Iain Kelly

A final swipe of the cloth across the shining black leather and Dick Rowland leaned back. Another satisfied customer.

‘Can see your face in them, like a mirror.’

‘Thank you, Dick,’ said Walt, flipping him a shiny cent.

Old Bill slipped into the vacated seat.

‘Just need to visit the restroom.’ Dick said.

‘I’m in no rush,’ said Old Bill, flipping open his newspaper.

Another fine day on Greenwood Avenue. Dick could nip into the Drexel building and and be back in less than five minutes.

He strolled across the street. He marvelled each day at what they had built for themselves, right in the heart of Jim Crow land.

He skipped up to the building, holding the door open for a young, white lady. She gave him a polite smile and he followed her inside.

The commotion distracted Old Bill from the sports pages.

He heard the high-pitched scream: ‘Rape!’

He never did get his shoes shined that day.

Linking up with the prompt at What Pegman Saw. The task is to write a story in 150 words or less based on the destination that Pegman is visiting. This week’s destination is Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, U.S.A., infamous for one of the worst race riots in America’s history, when the successful black community was razed to the ground by the local white population. Read more about it here: WIKIPEDIA.