Chapters 7-9

Chapter 7:

As the dreary days passed, I found myself becoming very close with my fellow slave worker Abraham. As a pure African, he still kept up with many aspects of traditional African culture, and he would share stories with me while we worked. He would share stories of African ghost folklore with such expression, I would find myself fascinated. Often times I would realized I had stopped working because I’d become completely engrossed with what Abraham was saying, and I’d have to hurry and get back to working so I wouldn’t get in trouble. Whenever we talked, he listened fully and made me feel completely at ease. For the first time in my entire life as a slave I had something to look forward to every day. I know longer dreaded the coming of the next day when I thought about how I would get to spend time with Abraham. He was a ray of sunshine peaking though the clouds of this never-ending gloomy storm in my life.

Not only was Abraham a kind and charming soul who brought happiness into our tragic lives, but he was also very inspiring and admirable as a worker. He worked very hard and did as he was told, taking orders with the utmost politeness, so long as the orders didn’t go against what he believed was right. However, if Master Hopkins gave an order that didn’t sit well with him, or if he tried to give a form of punishment that was cruel and unnecessary, Abraham would resist and rebel.

Since Abraham was so hardworking, Mr. Hopkins had never had a problem with him before, and had yet to encounter his rebellious nature. Mr. Hopkins tended to be reasonable so long as the slaves did their work. But one day he caught us together chatting and laughing, and it seemed as if we weren’t working. Mr. Hopkins became very cross with us, and told us we had better stop and get back to work. Abraham saw no reason for us to stop, we were doing nothing wrong and we were still working diligently. “I’m sorry sir, but I since we are doing nothing wrong and our work is still getting done, I won’t stop,” he said. Mr. Hopkins was angry at this; he saw the truth in what Abraham was saying, and yet it seemed like Abraham was trying to make a fool of him. Mr. Hopkins tried to whip him, and Abraham resisted at first. He told Mr. Hopkins, “I refuse to be punished when I did nothing wrong.” However Abraham was unable to succeed in resisting, and received his whipping in the end. As soon as Mr. Hopkins left I ran to Abraham’s side and did everything I could to heal and comfort him.

Similar incidents to this began to occur and become frequent. Each time, I stayed by his side and tried to comfort him. He would always thank me and tell me not to worry. It wasn’t long before we fell in love. I grew more discontent than ever with this life as I witnessed the cruel and unfair treatment given to Abraham. However there wasn’t much I could do about it, so I begged Abraham to throw away his pride and be obedient so he didn’t have to suffer anymore.

One day after a particularly bad whipping, he grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes and said, “let’s run away together. We can make it to the North and get married, as free people.” The idea appealed to me very much, but the consequences if we were to be caught were terrifying. I still had to save my family, and I couldn’t bear to lose Abraham, so I couldn’t bring myself to take the risk. Abraham continued to beg me everyday and I would refuse. But the days just became more and more miserable, and I could no longer bear watching Abraham be punished. About a week after he proposed the idea, I couldn’t take it anymore and let my emotions take over. I didn’t care about the risk anymore; I just wanted to get out of here. When Abraham begged this time, I agreed.

Chapter 8:

Abraham and I discussed plans for running away and gathered a few things we would need in order to survive, a few extra pairs of clothes and some food. We would get some sleep and wake up very early to sneak out. They would travel by the guide of the North Star, going through woods and other covered areas so as not to be discovered. Abraham had a friend we could meet up with after about two days of travel, and they would figure out the rest of the escape from there.

As I went to bed that night, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I blamed it on nervousness though and sung myself quietly to sleep. It was a restless night full of unsettling dreams and when I felt the light shake of my shoulder in the morning, I was half-convinced not to go through the plan. But when I saw the tired look on Abraham’s face, I knew we couldn’t stay here any longer. We grabbed our things and quietly made our way out of the house, being careful to avoid the hounds and not wake anyone in the house. We made it across the field and away from the plantation without a hitch and I had a very bad feeling. Things were way too quiet and this was going to way too smoothly. I grew more and more uneasy as we made our way to the woods.

We made it to the woods and found a nice covered spot to sit ourselves down. Abraham assumed we were safe and told me to eat some of the food so I’d have enough strength to travel. As I ate we were startled by a howl from far away. Frightened, I looked to Abraham for instructions. He told me not to worry and we set off at a hurried pace. I was very worried but I trusted Abraham and followed his lead. We heard a rustling behind us and Abraham grabbed my hand and we started running. It was then we heard the barking. I wanted to cry because I felt there was no hope at this point. We stopped by a tree and Abraham lifted me up and told me to climb up as far as I could where I couldn’t be seen. He grabbed rosemary and rubbed it along the tree and laid it around to cover up my smell and he ran. I perched myself high up in one of the top branches, shivering both from the cold draft and from fear. I cried silently and prayed fervently that Abraham would get away. I watched as the bloodhounds bounded after him, gaining ground. What I saw next would traumatize me for the rest of my life. One of the bloodhounds caught up to Abraham and grabbed on to his leg with its teeth, bringing him down to the ground. I shuddered and shut my eyes tight, trying to block out the gruesome sounds that followed. As I cried silently my heart felt like it would shatter right there. I was tempted to jump down and scream at the world for all the pain it has brought me, and let myself be killed too. Only and fleeting thought of Peter kept me there, kept me from doing something stupid.

I probably stayed up in that tree for about two days, half-tempted to starve myself. Finally, the thought of at least trying to save Peter brought me down. I ate a little bit of food: I had no appetite but knew I’d starve if I didn’t I let my feet drag me forward, not really paying much attention to anything, just walking. It was times like this that my faith would falter, I loved God but I began to question whether he loved us. How could these things keep happening, what was the reason? Would it ever be better? Questions like these ran through my mind as I carried on. I thought about the little happiness I had found with Abraham, and now that was gone too. Had I done something wrong to deserve this punishment? I just couldn’t understand. I began to cry again, this time aloud, wailing with little concern about whether I would be caught or not.. After what seemed like days of travel I found myself at the place I’d never wanted to see again, the Scott Plantation.

Chapter 9: *Note: I’m a little confused, from the plot it seems like Peter is on the Scott Plantation, but I thought he was at the other plantation. I’ll write it as if he’s on the Scott plantation but I thought I’d point it out. Maybe I just missed out on something*

The realization of where I was first brought terror, but I vaguely remembered there was an abandoned outhouse here that I could hide out in, and had to stop anyway if I wanted to go on. I found the outhouse and trying as best as I could to disregard the lingering smell, I found a corner to curl up in and went to sleep. Sleep took over pretty quickly, for I was very tired. I half hoped I would never wake up again, but again thoughts of Peter gave me a tiny will to live. That would become my sole mission in life, getting Peter to freedom, and I wouldn’t concern myself with anything else until the task was done. When I awoke in the morning, I immediately snuck around the plantation in hopes of finding Peter. I had a difficult time as I was almost caught several times. I actually was spotted by a few of the slaves, but they kept quiet. Finally I found Peter working the fields, but trying to get his attention would be too risky. I waited out behind the shed until he was closer and there was no one else around. “Peter!” I called very softly. He didn’t hear me so I kicked a pebble in his direction. He turned around, startled at first, and his face brightened when he saw me. But quickly his face fell and her hurried over to me, looking around frantically hoping no one was watching. “Well it’s certainly good to see you again,” he said, “but you know we’re dead if you’re found.”

“I know,” I replied, “but I couldn’t leave you alone anymore. Listen Peter, we gotta get out of here. Look at your face, you’ve gotten so thin, I’m afraid you’re just going to disappear. We can’t keep living like this, it’s not right. This is not what god wanted for us. I’m going to run away to the North, and I want you to come with me.”

He hesitated, and I could see he was very conflicted. Finally he answered, “you know I want that as much as any of us do, but you know what will happened if we get caught. The risk is too great.”

“But I think it’s worth it,” I told him. “If we succeed, we can finally be happy. But if we never try, then we’ll continue to live in misery for the rest of our lives. We have to tr-- ” I couldn’t finish my sentence as I saw William Scott approaching behind my brother. My heart filled with dread and horror at seeing a face I hoped I’d never have to see again.

“Well, well, well,” William laughed wickedly with a triumphant look on his face. “Look who decided to come back to us. Welcome back, I’ve got a present for you my dear,” he spat as he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me back to the house. Tears filled up my eyes and I felt every last ounce of hope leave my body. He dragged me up to his room and threw me onto his bed. “Oh how I’ve missed you my dear, haven’t you missed me?” He chided. I closed my eyes and kicked and screamed, hoping to throw him off. I had heard of such happenings by the master before, but I’d never imagined it would happen to me. My hands and feet were tied down and I was gagged. The tears were flowing freely now as I tried to keep my eyes squeezed shut. I heard him cackling the whole time and I was never more disgusted with this filthy man than I was now. I felt the tugging at my clothes and despite my struggles I could not stop it. “What’s wrong, aren’t you happy to be with me again,” he cackled wildly. I so angry and disgusted I wanted to throw up. It was unfortunate I didn’t have enough food in me to do that. Then I felt it, a most excruciating pain that far exceeded anything else I’d ever felt. After a few moments I could not longer take it and blacked out.