D.R.T.A -Reading of A Few Words by Telisha Moore

Summary

The story starts off when Wallace K.Calb is writing a letter to Maeve. Stating that he is thinking of returning to Samson, a small city. His friend Flapjack brings him a gun.Wallace is uneasy about this. Flapjack tempted him to rob the convenience store to be able to pay off his rent which was three months late and due the next day.The two plan to meet at 11:30 at the store. Wallace got rid of his guilt by telling himself "you ain't got a damned thing".

Once Wallace and Flapjack arrived, Wallace felt like calling it off and going home to see Maeve.He thought to himself that Maeve would never put him down. He even had bus tokens to get to her .

Flapjack reminded him that they had to wait for the people to leave before they entered. There was Wallace, flapjack, Leroy (owner of the convenience store), a fat lady and a cop at the store. The lady fussed about the high price of tomato paste while it was much cheaper at Food King.

Leroy was a rich man and yet he hiked up his prices. Wallace stepped to the counter with a gun. The fat lady ran out, screaming. Without protest or hesitation, Leroy pulled out the cash drawer and emptied it into a bag. Wallace shot Leroy in the head and he fell down.

Wallace paid his rent, he ate and before the money ran out, he could find some job. But one thing he could never do was to go back.He couldn't go to sleep. He continued his letter by saying that he has changed his mind and that he's going to stay in D.C forever.

Paraphrase

The story starts when Wallace is writing a letter to his love saying that he's considering returning to Samson, because small city life suits him better.Flapjack dropped the .38 gun on the table and Wallace moved it off the letter he was writing. He put the letter into his pocket and lit a cigarette.

Flapjack thought that Wallace had changed his mind about the plan they were going to have. But Wallace said "I say I want to back out?" while going to the kitchen and turning his back from Flapkack. Flapjack leaves but before leaving, reminds Wallace that he has to be at the convenience store at eleven-thirty.

Looking at gun, Wallace asks himself "where has my life gone to?". Even though he is young, handsome, tall, he has nothing. He looks at the peeling blue walls, the oil painting of Elvis he hated and the old furniture which came with the furnished building which again he didn't like. Wallace thought if only he hadn't been black or had a father who cared about him, or if only Mamaeve had stayed, he would be much better off now.

His knee was hurt at 'Nam, and now he was sitting in a dark, one-bedroom apartment with rent three months late. His life had reduced to robbing Leroy's convenience store.He himself couldn't believe he was going to rob for his daily bread.He was alleviating his guit by telling himself " you ain't got a damned thing."

Wallace was thinking of cancelling the whole deal and going home to MaMaeve and asking her for help.He even had bus tokens to get to her. As he was busy thinking of changing his mind, Flapjack reminded him that they had to wait for everyone to leave and then get to the plan.

There were five people: Leroy ( the owner of the store), Wallace and Flapjack, a cop and a black fat lady.

The lady was complaining to Leroy about the high price of tomato paste. She said that Food King gave it a lot cheaper. Leroy told her to look at something else.Leroy was a dark, heavy old man with a Cadillac and three gold rings on his left hand, and he still hiked up the prices.

Wallace murmured:"Damn lady, carry your ass."

Wallace stepped to the counter, ordered Leroy to put his hands on the counter. Leroy's slow movement and cold and familiar eyes were bothering Wallace. He therefore pressed the gun closer to Leroy's head.

Without any protest, Leroy handed in the cash to Wallace then told him that he knew " he won't no good" , " you ain't going to do no better or be better for no one else".Wallace had forgotten that Leroy was not the type to let him walk away easilt after robbing his store so Wallace shot Leroy and he fell to the ground.

Wallace walked home, thinking that his life is going to be different forever. He might be able to pay the rent, get food, and find a job before he runs out of money. But he can never go back to Samson.He got home and started smoking but wasn't going to be able to sleep.

He continued his letter this way:

"Well, I've changed my mind.The city has just picked up.Not that it wasn't good. But now, it's just different.I'm always goa be a city boy, I guess.Nothing changes."

Keywords:

prg #1- few lines, D.C, great, coming back

prg #2- gun, letter, folded, smoking

prg #3- back out, Winston, not smoking

prg#4- smooth, nutmeg-colored, excitement, uneasy

prg #5- just thought, kitchen, back, full blast

prg #6- eleven- thirty, death of voice

prg #7- cigarette, stared, handsome, peeling, Elvis, broken, Nicotine, black, knee, 'Nam,dark, one-bedroom, rent ,late, robbing, bread

prg #9- crate, dumpsters,

prg# 12- high, due, call off, MaMaeve, bus token

prg#17- small, upside down, cop, black lady, fussing, tomato paste

Questions:

Why did he leave the town?

How does he relieve himself from the discomfort and distress?- by smoking

Why does Flapjack's excitement about the job make wallace uneasy?- because he's not prepared to rob a store

Why does Wallace go to the kitchen?- because he wants to implicitly tell Flapjack to leave, he turns his back on him.

Why does Moore insist on peeled wall, painting Wallace hates, broken furniture? - She wants to emphasize the bad situation Wallace is having.Which is surprising when considering his prior descriptions of himself.

Why did MaMaeve leave him? Does he still love her?

Why does Flapjack tell Wallace " listen to me" ? isn't he already listening? why emphasize? - because flapjack could see that Wallace wasn't exactly here and was thinking deeply about calling the whole plan off and changing his mind.

Why was Flapjack reading upside-down?- because he was just pretending to be reading in order to trick Leroy into thinking that he has nothing to do with the robbery.

In the middle of such a sensitive, nerve-racking situation, why was Wallace hoping the magazine to be Playboy? - It shows that he was completely careless and relaxed.

Why does Moore have to choose a black, fat lady as this kind of role? - Because it is portraying how society sees African Americans. How disrespected they are. If they are fat, that makes their status even worse to an extent that they get cursed at and offended in public.

Why does Leroy's cold, familiar eyes and his indifference get Wallace angry?- Because he prefers Leroy to feel scared or at least a little threatened. He would otherwise get a better feeling. He seems to be discontent with the fact that Leroy is so calm.

Why was it too late? too late for what?

Notes:

For his daily bread: implies that hunger leads anybody into commiting crimes like robbery and even murder. It also refers to the subtlety and unpredictability of life.