A sliverA Story by SlightlyOdd
"Pa, can i be George now?" He asked, almost as if he was afraid to hear the answer. His dad looked at him strangely, as if he didn't understand what he meant. As if echoing Henry's thought, he replied,
"Now son, what do yeh mean by that?" he asked, leaning down on one knee so he could look his boy in the eye as they stood out in the rain, no place to go. They were dressed no better than barbarians, with scrapped and raggedy clothing. The ends of the boy Henry's, clothing were singed from the fires and dirty from a thousand little scuff marks from debris. He looked up at his father, whose clothing was a bit worse off; it was a bit more scuffed and ripped, the original color indeterminable. Then he explained, "When I was real little like before we was' sold, I 'member trees lots of 'em and, I 'member being called Georgie and a wom'an. Since I was George be'for Master started caul'in me Henry and I don' have a master now I ought t'er be called George again." How could he decline when he had brought up Helena, the apple of his eye? She'd named her son George and if her son wanted to be George, there was no way he could argue. It was amazing that he was able to be with him now. He paused for a moment, thinking of his wife who had died in her second delivery, giving her life for a still birth. "I can be what i want now since them masters an' I been abolished, they sayin' in the towns the the fightin's over, ain't it?" Then Jack looked at his son, "Aye son, you can be George now. We're free but the fightin' ain't be finished yet." He said, a dreary silence drifting over them. They started towards town. There wasn't anything to pack. They'd been living with nothing on their backs.The only one who had anything was Pa, he had a small pocket on the inside of his shirt where they kept their money. They had three dollars and sixty- five cents total. "At least we be free."Jack said "At leas we be free" They walked the twenty miles to town, not that town was much now. A few husks of burned down buildings, the church still stood but it was badly in disrepair. It looked like the shell of something once beautiful as if a pearl has left behind it's out layer with spots and cracks and filled it with dirt which was now spilling out the the thin shell of what was once a pearl. It was like a miracle, what was taking place there. Former slaves formed a line stretching as far as the eye could see. In the very front of the line were white folk. Very few white folk were kind but these people were handing out food. "What are they Pa?" he asked "I don' know George,"he said quietly. Then looking at the man at the back of the line he asked. "What them white folks doin' up there?" "You haven'a been here long have yeh, not from around here, or if yeh are you been hidin' out in the woods like the rest of 'em,"he said calmly if a bit frantically as a reply, then stopped and continued again, "There here for us, the freedmen. The Freedmens Bur-ea-u they call themselves." Then for the first time in his explanation, he looked at them and finished as if he was terribly happy for the first time. "They want to help us," he finished his eyes darting as he moved forward in the line as if he was worried that someone would take his place in line. They want to help us, Jack thought. How odd that the realization was comforting. He realized he didn't need to be in this line. He could have a life now. He knew just the man to see. Looking down the line he thought, they sure have their work cut out for them, these strangers but as he always thought : They ain't hurtin' yet so let em' be. He would do just that, 'Let 'em be' -------A year later------- George liked to watch them build. They were building a school. He'd heard and seen that the whites went to a school. He'd also heard them complaining about it. But he didn't think he'd mind. Either way not much had changed . See, while everything had changed nothing really changed much. The white folks still looked down their noses at him like he was garbage. He still went to church on Sunday, but, Church had changed. It was filled with singing and well, it made sense for the first time in a long time.He ran errands now but, he'd already done that. He would still be picking cotton when the right season came, and he would still help with the planting in the spring, and he would eat the same grade food, only it would taste better. The way these things were to be done had changed, why, the very air had changed. Or at least it seemed to, he thought as the walked down the street next to Mrs. Patterson. Pa and Doug, one of the people in the family they lived with, would be taking care of the animals right about now. Jenifer and Margaret would be mending and cleaning now, and he would pool in the money he'd earned for food and the back-up in case the crop fell through. After he went back home, he'd probably come back out to sell some of the eggs the chickens had laid and some of the milk, or maybe Doug would do it. But whoever it was, Pa would come with them to make sure they didn't get cheated. Maybe once in a while they would go down to the market to buy something for dinner and the dinners ahead. Right now they owed the Landowner 34 (374 dollars) dollars for the animals and equipment; they were neck deep in debt. If the landowner decided that he wanted his stuff back, they wouldn't even be able to afford the clothes on their backs. Not that he thought of this while he was carrying Mrs.Patterson's groceries. Sometimes Pa thought nothing had changed....not much anyway. Those people they thought were here to help them were no help at all where work was concerned. But they weren't hurt'in either. Maybe they was still slaves. In fact, there were some who were worse off now than when they were slaves. Others were just lost; they didn't know what to do without a whip at their backs or a voice tell'in them what to do. But there was work to do. He'd help them when he was in a position to help himself. At least there was a chance for him to be free. If not him, then his son, or his son's children. A small hope, but it was there. © 2012 SlightlyOddAuthor's Note
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3 Reviews  Last Updated on September 5, 2012 Author
SlightlyOddMysteries Mysteries oh what funAboutHere's the thing why not guess Give it your best: Cats are a no but the symbol a yes Green is good by my color is gold I am a mule but when facts are told I relinquish my throne with crusts of .. more..Writing
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