Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black

About the time that Williams begins Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, his Grandmother Sallie, who is in her sixties, loses her job at the restaurant where she has cooked for decades. Tony signs her up for Social Security, and she’s told that she’ll receive a lump-sum check of $650. She generously announces that she’ll share the money with Tony and the boys when it arrives. This comes to the attention of Fred Badders, a seedy white slacker who is an acquaintance of Tony’s. Fred pursues a love interest in Sallie, who is much older, to get her Social Security money, and he manages to be present on the day when the check comes. He spirits Sallie to Louisville by bus, where they stay with Aunt Roxie, drinking, until the money’s gone. Sallie then returns to Muncie on a bus with a tag tied to her clothing explaining where she belongs and asking anybody who sees the tag to provide help. Thereafter, Fred shows up each month on the day the Social Security check arrives, and he and Sallie disappear until they drink up all the money, whereupon Fred disappears again. Years later, while visiting the old neighborhood, Williams sees Fred walking down the street.