other than Rastafarians, few were interested in going back.
But the search for origins was a highly personal business.
Nietzsche said that when he peered into the abyss, he found himself.
Roy’s father had this quote made into a sign and pinned up on the
coffeeshop wall, though it had a totally different meaning to him.
After the discovery of the bones, it had a different meaning for
everyone on earth.
The real meaning of Abyssinia wasn’t revealed to Roy until years
later. When Roy started school at Fairfax high, he was shunned by
the Jews for being black and by the blacks for being Jewish. No one
knew what to make of him, and so he found himself doubly in exile.
He took solace in books and among the older friends of his father, in
the coffeeshop that brought in loyal friends but little money. One of
those friends was an entertainer, the most famous black Jew in
history. Sammy Davis Jr. loaned Roy’s father the money to start
Coffee Roy’sbut would never allow him to pay back the debt. It was
one of the few places in town he could escape from the pressures of
showbiz, and because of this he considered himself more than
reimbursed.
Hearing that Roy Jr. was distraught about his confusion of
categories, Sammy took Roy aside over a cup of coffee and provided
a little demonstration.
“See, little Poppa, some people like their coffee black,” Davis
said, holding the coffee in front of Roy’s nose. Then, gracefully, he
pulled the cup back and poured in a little milk. “Lots of people like
coffee with milk,” he suddenly flipped the cup over completely and
up again without spilling a drop. The milk had become completely
mixed in. Roy cried out in surprise. Then Davis took a packet in his
hand and said, “And many people like it sweet,” he snapped his
fingers and the white crystals were released into the coffee. Putting
the cup down on the table, he passed it to Roy. Smiling, Roy took a
big gulp of the coffee and promptly spit it out onto the floor.
The entertainer showed the torn packet in his hand to Roy. It was
salt.
Davis smiled, “This cup is your life. It doesn’t matter what you
start with. You go out and search the world for good things to put in
it. You are not this cup, you are what you put in this cup. That’s why
the highest quality a human being can aspire to is that of good taste.”
In fact, good taste was what Sammy Davis, Jr. was all about. The
ABYSSINIA
40
 |
 |
 |
 |