A Perilous Proposal (34 page)

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Authors: Michael Phillips

Tags: #Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865–1877)—Fiction, #Women plantation owners—Fiction, #Female friendship—Fiction, #Plantation life—Fiction, #Race relations—Fiction, #North Carolina—Fiction, #Young women—Fiction, #Racism—Fiction

BOOK: A Perilous Proposal
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The next moment Uncle Ward came in from outside and Katie came downstairs. Katie went to the pantry, and Josepha asked Mr. Ward if he wanted a cup of coffee. My papa came in and asked Henry's advice on fixing the plough, and out on the porch, Emma was singing an old field song to little William.

That's the way Rosewood was—whites, blacks, halfwhites, men, women, old, young . . . and we were all a family together!

The whole South was changing as fast as things around Rosewood. With the war over and slaves free, nothing was like it was before. The old way of life was gone. Northerners called “carpetbaggers” were coming down to the South. There were lots of resentments against free blacks. Greens Crossing was starting to grow with new people coming and going.

The Rosewood plantation slowly began running halfway normally. We were growing crops and tending animals and making enough money and growing enough vegetables to feed us all and even to have a
little money to spare—something Katie's mama never had during the war.

My papa and Uncle Ward were so different than they had been before! It was like they'd been running a plantation all their lives. Everyone at Rosewood thought the world of them and felt so safe now that they were in charge of things.

But the rest of the community wasn't so pleased, and didn't think quite as much of the Daniels brothers as we did. In fact, there was a growing tension between Rosewood and the rest of the townspeople. The two “Northerners,” as people thought of them, were “niggerlovers” and people hated them for it. People thought of Templeton as a Yankee dandy and carpetbagger himself, just because of the way he used to dress and the polished way he spoke. Some people in town resented him and Uncle Ward all the more too because they seemed to be making a successful go of Rosewood again. When a lot of the plantations in North Carolina were struggling without slaves, here was a crazy little family of whites and blacks and kids and a former house slave . . . and we were making money.

People didn't like it.

A D
ADDY FOR
W
ILLIAM

47

O
NE DAY
J
EREMIAH CAME AROUND THE SIDE OF THE
house and saw Emma sitting on the steps of the big wide front porch. She was shelling peas and watching William running around on the grass playing with one of the dogs. Jeremiah walked over and sat down beside her.

“Hey, girl, wha'chu up to?” he asked good-naturedly.

“Jes' shucking sum peas.”

“I kin see dat,” said Jeremiah, reaching into the bowl and taking a small handful, then popping a few in his mouth.

“Hey, you stay outta dere!” laughed Emma as she slapped at his hand. “Dose is fo our supper!”

“Well, den, I's jes' havin' myself sum supper right now!”

“Dat right, dat right . . . you's jes like all da rest!”

“What dat supposed ter mean!”

“Jes' what Josepha sez—dat men's always thinkin' 'bout dere stomachs.”

“I reckon dere ain't no way ter keep from dat aroun' here, with such good vittles as dere always is. It looks like dat boy ob yers been makin' good use ob it too. He's turnin' into a right chubby little feller, all right.”

Emma smiled and they sat for a few seconds watching William.

“Yep, dat William be growin' up like er weed,” said Jeremiah as they quieted.

“Dat he is. An' I owes it all ter dis place,” said Emma. “I can't hardly imagine what I'd dun effen Miz Katie an' Miz Mayme hadn't taken care ob me like dey dun.”

William came toward the porch, stared at Jeremiah, then walked up the steps and put his arms around him.

“Hey, what dis, little man!”

“Will you be my daddy, Jer'miah?” said William, staring up into Jeremiah's face with wide, innocent eyes.

“Shush yo mouf, William!” said Emma, embarrassed.

“He only been mostly aroun' white men,” she added to Jeremiah. “He ain't neber had no black man up close afore you and Henry come. He's always looked at you dif'rent.”

Emma reached out to pull William toward her. But Jeremiah stopped her.

“Dat's all right,” he said. Then he looked into William's face and pulled him up into his lap.

“I can't be yo daddy, William,” he said. “But I kin be yo frien', jes' like I's yo mama's frien'.”

“Why can't you be my daddy?”

“'Cuz I jes' can't. But sumday I reckon dere'll come a time when yo mama'll fin' sumbody dat'll be a daddy ter you.”

Emma glanced over with a strange expression.

“You mean dat, Jeremiah?” she said. “Duz you really think so?”

“Why not, Emma? Look at all da changes dat's comin' ter black folks like us. Jes' think—we ain't slaves no mo. We got people an' frien's and even a little money ob our own. Dis is a good time ter be colored. I figger we's 'bout da luckiest colored folks dere eber wuz. An' it's gwine git better too, so I figger you'll meet sum black man one day who'll take care ob you an' William jes' like Miz Katie an' Mayme hab dun up till now.”

It got real quiet for a while. William sat contentedly in Jeremiah's lap. From the corner of his eye, he saw Emma brush a tear or two away from her eyes.

Jeremiah looked up and saw Mayme bringing in the cows for the afternoon milking. She waved when she saw them sitting there. Jeremiah waved back.

After a minute or two, William got up and scampered off again. Finally Emma spoke up.

“You's real sweet on Mayme, ain't you?” she said in a thoughtful tone.

“Yeah, I reckon so,” nodded Jeremiah. “She's about the prettiest thing I ever saw.”

“I see da way you look at her, like you can't take yo eyes off her.”

“You's real pretty too, Emma,” said Jeremiah. “Dat's why I said what I did. Sumday a man'll come along dat'll look at you dat way too.”

“But it's diff'rent wiff you an' Mayme. Da way you looks at her's not like dat. It ain't da way men look at me. I know dat look men gives girls like me. I used ter think I liked it, but now it scares me right down ter my toes. But what I see in yo face is different. You ain't jes' looking at how pretty Mayme is. You's lookin' at sumfin inside her.”

Jeremiah did not reply immediately. He watched Mayme lead the cows toward the barn and thought about Emma's words. He wanted to get up and go help Mayme, but he reckoned there was more Emma wanted to say.

“I shore hope sumday sumbody looks at me wiff dat kind er look,” Emma went on, “like dey's lookin' at who I is inside. Dere wuz a time when dere might not er been much down dere ter see. I don't reckon I wuz too smart. But bein' aroun' Miz Katie an' Miz Mayme . . . I reckon I'm changin' an' growin' sum jes' like William. Maybe we's both growin'—but I hope I's growin'
inside
.”

Jeremiah looked at her and smiled.

“I reckon you are,” he said.

“You think dat person you said would come along sumday fo me—you reckon he'll see sumfin in me ter love like you see in Mayme?”

“I do, Emma. Yes, I do,” said Jeremiah. “He's gwine see a mighty fine young black lady an' a real good mama ter her son. Dat's what he's gwine see.”

Emma sniffed and glanced away. Her eyes were wet again.

Strange feelings went through me at the sight of Jeremiah and Emma sitting there on the porch together, Jeremiah holding William on his lap. On one hand, it made me feel warm inside to see Jeremiah with William like that. I reckon every girl likes to see a young man she's fond of being nice to children. But at the same time, it made me feel funny as I watched them, like there was a bond between them that I couldn't share. I wasn't jealous of Emma exactly. But for the first time, I did wish Emma wasn't quite so good-looking.

When Jeremiah walked into the barn a few minutes later where I was milking the cows, I still felt unaccountably strange.

Slowly he began milking one of the cows too. For a few minutes the only sounds were the zing-zing of milk hitting the pails.

“Dat William,” Jeremiah began, chuckling. “He shore is a cute one.”

“Mm-hm . . . ” I muttered. I was still feeling unsettled from seeing Jeremiah and Emma laughing and talking together.

“You know what he axed me jes' now?” Jeremiah asked. “He axed me if I could be his daddy.”

My hand stilled on the teat I was holding. I could
feel my heart starting to beat faster.

“Da way dat little boy was a lookin' at me, eyes all shinin' and hopin',” Jeremiah went on, “made me think of my own daddy. How things was between us, afore. . . . well, dat's anudder story.”

I wondered what he meant but was too busy holding my breath to ask about it now.

“Know what I said?” Jeremiah continued. “I said I couldn't be his daddy. Know why?”

“Uh, no .. . why?” I said.

Jeremiah's face appeared over the stall wall. He must have heard something in my voice. “Mayme. You ain't jealous of Emma, is you?” he asked.

“No,” I answered.

“You got no call to be. Emma is pretty, all right. Real pretty. But I tol' her I was shore some nice black man wud come along someday, ter take care of her an' William.”

I heard the sound of boots crunching through straw. Suddenly there was Jeremiah standing beside me. He leaned down, hands on his trouser legs, and looked straight into my eyes.

“Mayme. You knows I like 'bout everything 'bout dis place,” he said. “I like how dem Daniels brothers treat us all de same, and you knows I think Miz Katie's 'bout the finest white woman dat ever lived. I like Josepha's cookin,' an' I like lil' William lookin' up ter me, makin' me wish I was as fine a man as he thinks I is. And, yes, his mama is mighty fine lookin'—mighty silly to boot. But none ob dem is why I keep makin' dat long walk out ter dis place. You knows why I came here dat first time and why I keep comin' back, don't you, Mayme?”

I reckon I did know, but I didn't reply. Already I was feeling a little foolish for worrying about Emma.

“I come ter Rosewood ter see one Miz Mary Ann
Daniels,” said Jeremiah, “ter be with her, ter talk with her and see her smilin' at me. Mayme, ye're da reason I come here.”

I smiled up at him and he smiled back. He leaned down, like he meant to kiss me. But the cow, impatient with waiting, turned her head and butted Jeremiah's back, nearly pushing him over.

“All right. All right.” Jeremiah chuckled, straightening up. “I get your meanin'.” He smiled at me once more. Then we both went back to work.

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