Authors: Ashley Ryan
“
Say’s who? Mark?” I asked.
“You know
masa Mark not gonna be happy” Bea replied.
“Mark isn’t my father. Who’s that on the tree?” I asked.
“That there Leon” Bea replied.
I immediately recognized the name as Anny’s man.
“What did he do?” I asked.
“He was supposed
ta be in the field but masa Mark caught him in the barn.” Bea replied.
“Was he alone?” I asked.
“I reckon so or they’d be mo niggas on them trees” Bea replied.
I walked closer as Mark stopped cracking the whip. I saw him give a nod to one of the
unkles watching the whole thing. The unkle took a knife and cut Leon loose from the tree. I could see that Mark had hit him about twenty times. His back was bleeding and Anny was knelt on the ground a few feet away crying into her mother’s shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” Mark asked as he walked away from the tree and saw me approaching.
“I came to see what was going on. I heard the…”
“You shouldn’t be here.” Mark interrupted.
“Why?” I asked.
“You know why. This is not the place for a lady.” Mark said.
“Why?” I asked.
“You know why Rebekah.” Mark said as he put his arm around my shoulder. “Come”
I turned to walk with him. “Why were you beating him?” I asked.
“That’s none of your concern. That’s my affair.” He replied.
I stopped walking and looked at him as though he’d slapped my face.
“Then where I decide to walk is my affair” I replied as I turned to go back to the slave quarters.
“Rebekah!” Mark yelled.
“Yes?” I replied as I stopped and turned to face him.
“Return to the house!” He commanded.
I examined my hands.
“My skin isn’t black and you don’t command me brother.” I replied harshly.
“This is my plantation and while…”
“This is father’s plantation!” I interrupted. “You do not command me, you do not control me, and you do not own me. I will do as I please, when I please, and how I please and right now it pleases me to find out why you beat that slave either by your own words or by those of the one you’ve beaten.”
“You’re quite the spitfire aren’t you?” Mark said as a smile crossed his face. “Not a little girl anymore.”
“You’re not the only one who’s changed brother.” I replied.
“Come, I’ll tell you while we walk.” He said.
Mark explained that Leon had been missing from the fields quite a bit over the last few months. Mark said that this was the second time he’d received a whipping because of his absence at work. Last time he’d caught Leon returning to the field after missing for several hours. This time he was caught red handed in the barn “cooling off” as my brother put it. I suspected that he’d been in the barn with Anny and that she’d left prior to him being caught or that Leon had just arrived and Anny hadn’t yet arrived.
“So he was just sitting in the barn?” I asked.
“Yes” Mark replied. “I can’t tolerate a lazy nigger or they’ll all be sitting in the barn and no work will ever get done.”
When we arrived at the house I saw Sissy watching Mark and I as we made our way to the kitchen.
“Sissy, fix me a glass of lemonade” Mark said before making his way up the stairs.
I remained in the kitchen for a moment as I looked through the cupboard for an afternoon snack.
“Something I can get you miss?” Sissy asked.
“No, I’m just looking to see what’s here.” I said.
Sissy looked as though she wanted to say something else.
“Something on your mind?”
I asked.
“No ma’am I’s
juss…” Sissy stopped.
“Just?” I asked.
“It aint my concern miss” Sissy said.
“Sissy, I’ve known you all my life. I don’t understand why you’re afraid of me now.” I said.
“I aint fraid of you miss. I juss know my place and it aint to axe questions” Sissy replied.
“You want to know what was going on at the slave
quarters?” I asked.
“
Yes’um I heard the whip” Sissy replied.
“Mark caught a nigger in the barn cooling off without permission instead of working in the field.” I said.
“You knows who is was?” Sissy asked.
“Leon was his name I think”
“Oh lord. They gonna sell him if he keep on with that girl” Sissy replied.
“What girl?” I asked.
“Oh miss, I done said too much.” Sissy said.
“Anny?” I asked.
Sissy got a shocked look on her face. “How you know bout Anny?”
“I’m a better listener than my brothers are” I replied.
“Yes’um you surely is” Sissy replied.
Sissy opened up a little more than she had before. I guess she saw that school hadn’t changed me as much as she’d thought it would. If anything I think the opposite was true. I was older and more aware of what was happening than when I’d left. She told me all about Leon and Anny. She said that not only had Leon been whipped once before because of her but Anny’s daddy had beaten him up pretty good the first time they got caught fornicating. Sissy said Anny’s daddy left some bruises on her too when he found out.
“If masa Mark don’t beat him to death, Anny daddy will. Either way that boy gone get it one day!” Sissy said.
She went on to tell me about her daddy dying. He’d been kicked in the chest by a horse that he was trying to shoe. She said it didn’t just break his ribs but his messed him up inside. She said he lay in the bed for almost three weeks before finally passing away. She said that her mother had told her that I might return from school and not want to be friends anymore. A proper lady was rarely friends with a house nigger after all. It wasn’t like that with Sissy and me. Living on a plantation so far away from anyone else left me wanting for social interaction. My mother died when I was four years old and
although I played with my brothers, a girl needs other girls to play with. With sissy and I being the same age we were a perfect match.
After talking with Sissy for a long while I went out on the porch to sit in the swing and hopefully not be disturbed by the cracking of another whip. I took a book with me that I’d purchased just before returning home but hadn’t had the chance to read. I sat in the swing and then put my feet up in what father would have called and unladylike manner. I began reading my book. The next thing I remember was waking up to the sound of an approaching wagon. It was Charlotte. I couldn’t believe that she had them hitch the horses and drive her less than a mile from Mark’s house to Fathers. What a bloated, pompous, fool I thought to myself as her driver stopped in front of the house. I watched as the driver put a stool next to the door and then opened it for Charlotte. She stepped out wearing a dress that should have been reserved for a ball or banquet.
“Y hello Rebekah!” She said as she stepped onto the porch, pretending to be ecstatic to see me when in reality she’d probably forgotten that I’d even returned home.
“Hello Charlotte” I replied.
“I hear you’re finished with school and ready to marry” She said.
“I’m afraid you’ve been misinformed” I said.
“Oh? Your father said that you had completed all of your classes” Charlotte said.
“I have. I was referring to the part about be being ready to marry. Unfortunately that bit is inaccurate.” I replied.
“Oh, Your Father…”
“Was assuming that my intentions were the same as his.
They are not!” I interrupted.
“Oh I see. Well the younger you marry, the more years you’ll have to be happy together.” Charlotte said.
“Or miserable together.” I added.
“Indeed. Well if you will pardon me I desperately need to speak with Mark.” Charlotte said as she entered the house.
I picked up my book which had fallen onto the porch and tried to resume reading, but the book was one of the most boring things I’d even laid eyes on and I knew I would fall asleep again. I got up and went into the house. I could faintly hear Mark and Charlotte talking in the den. I knew I shouldn’t listen in but I couldn’t help myself. I made my was to the door which was closed and probably locked. I carefully placed my ear to the wall.
“I don’t expect that you would understand such things but the answer is still no.” I heard Mark say.
“I assure you dear husband that I understand fully, I do however not understand your reaction.” Charlotte replied.
“If you don’t understand by now you never will. The answer is no and it will not change.” Mark replied.
“Fine, you can remain here and live in your fathers shadow for the rest of your life but know this, I do not intend on remaining in Georgia for the rest of my life. I will go places either with or without you.” Charlotte yelled.
“Then go. I do not have time for your foolishness today. I have a business to run and if you intend on enjoying those nice clothes and luxuries then you will let me run it.” Mark replied.
“I do enjoy them very much however the only eyes that reach them out here are yours, mine and the thirty slaves you have running around here doing God knows what.” Charlotte said.
“Go home Charlotte!” Mark demanded as he stepped through the door I was listening at. He looked at me briefly with a disgusted expression before walking out the front door. Charlotte stormed out behind him and was so focused on Mark that I don’t even think that she saw me.
The next morning I was awakened by a banging on the back side of the house. I stumbled down stairs in my night gown to see what the ruckus was. I was greeted in the hallway but a very large bull nigger that I’d never seen before. Being half naked I let out a slight yell. Mark and Samuel came in to see what was wrong.
“Why are you in night clothes?” Samuel asked.
“Overt your eyes before I take them from you!” Mark yelled at the nigger who immediately looked away and resumed nailing a board to the wall.
“The banging woke me and I came to see what it was” I said as I made my way back to my room.
I knew it was going to be a bad day right then. Anytime I was startled awake I spent the day in a bad mood. I called for Sissy to bring me some old clothes. It was hot; I was sweaty and decided that I was going to the creek. I spoke with father and told him that I was taking Sissy with me. He agreed. He had never liked me going to the creek alone as a child for fear that I would fall in one of the deeper areas. I was glad that he fear was still intact for the truth was that I just didn’t want to be alone. On the way to the creek I told Sissy what I’d seen Anny and Leon doing. I told her not to say anything to anyone about it and she said that she wouldn’t. I asked if she had a man. She said that she didn’t but that she didn’t really want one yet either.
“Why not?”
I asked.
“I
juss don’t likes the idea of a man bein on top of me swettin like a pig and putting his thang in me like that” Sissy said bluntly.
After laughing for a minute I replied. “I think it feels good though”
“You ever had a man inside you?” Sissy asked.
“No” I said.
“Then how you know?” Sissy asked.
“I don’t for sure but a girl I was in school with said that she had done it and that it felt good after you got used to it.” I replied.
“I’d juss soon not get used to it” Sissy responded. “Did you see Leon’s?”
“Yeah” I said.
“What did it look like?” She asked.
“I thought you’d seen one before” I asked.
“Only my little brother’s” Sissy replied.
I held up my hands about eight inches apart. “It was about this long and almost as big around and this narrow part of my writs. It was black except for the tip, which was kind of a purple color.”
Sissy and I made our way down the creek bank to the sandy peninsula and were both eager to put our feet in the water. We talked most of the afternoon. Mostly about sex stuff. She was the only person that I could really talk to about such things. Most women thought it improper to even discuss the subject, not that there were many women around to talk to anyway. Sissy asked why father had slowed down the number of young men he was inviting to dinners lately. I explained that I wasn’t interested in getting married and that father was supposed to be waiting to bring the better ones around until I was ready.
“So
is you scared of men?” Sissy asked.
“Not really, in fact I’m really curious about sex especially after seeing Anny and Leon but I don’t want to get married.” I said.
“You don’t want no man tellin you what to do!” Sissy responded.
“Yeah, I think that’s it” I replied.
Sissy had a good point when she said that I didn’t have to be married to have marital relations. The thought hadn’t really occurred to me until she actually spoke the words.
“But I would be called a whore, and it would be true.” I replied.