East of Orleans (37 page)

“Theodore.”

“Theodore. What a strong name. May I call you Theodore?”

“Yes,” Porter said with a smile.”Jacqueline paused to take a breath. “Of course you will call us Jacqueline and Isabella. There is something about you Theodore, something, I cannot describe, but the moment I met you I felt as though we were old friends. Did you make that connection?”

Isabella proceeded to remove the drawstring purse form her bag and handed it to Jacqueline. Jacqueline shook the jewelry out into her hand. Mr. Porter looked down at Jacqueline’s palm, and the jewelry that glittered there.

Porter nodded solemnly. “I can see where you ladies are in a difficult situation.”

Jacqueline knew the words of victory. She eyed Porter through her thick black lashes, knowing his next move would be an attempt to purchase the jewelry for much less than she and Isabella wanted.

Porter removed a jeweler’s loop from his vest pocket and examined the two diamond rings and a broken strand of pearls that Isabella had thrown in. “Well, I wouldn’t want to upset you ladies and the last thing that I would want to do is insult the two of you by making you an offer that I am sure is much less than Jules or—.” He shot Jacqueline a look.

“Jules,” Jacqueline said with a coy smile.

“Yes, of course.” Porter scratched his head and glanced at his lady friend then looked back down at Jacqueline’s ring and said, “Both these rings are exceptional, but this one came from
New York
’s most prestigious jeweler. You sure you want to part with this?”

“What will you give me for it?” Asked Jacqueline.

Isabella searched Porter’s face anxiously.

I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you ladies two thousand dollars for all three pieces.

A faint smile spread across Jacqueline’s face. “Thank you, Theodore, but you know those three pieces are worth five times your offer. I guess we’ll just wait and see Sam tomorrow.” Jacqueline took the jewelry from Porter and placed it back in the velvet pouch.

“Can I see the pieces, ladies?” Mr. Porter’s lady friend spoke for the first time.

Jacqueline handed the pouch to the woman and watched her remove her eyeglasses and examine the pieces. “What do you need?”

“Three thousand dollars,” said Jacqueline.

“I’ll pay twenty-five hundred.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t take that.”

“Can I speak with Theodore alone?”

“Certainly,” said Jacqueline.

The woman got up and took Theodore into a back room. “I’m not a millionaire!” Jacqueline and Isabella heard him scream. Then Porter walked out of the back room and blushed. “I’ll pay twenty-five hundred and three hundred dollars in silver.”

“Twenty-eight hundred dollars?” Said Isabella. Jacqueline shot her a quick look.

Jesse watched the bargaining with amused awe.

“Theodore, if you will unlock the door, we have to be going. Tell Sam I’ll stop by tomorrow,” said Jacqueline.

“I really want to do right by you, ladies.”

“We know you do,” said Jacqueline.

“Could I lend you the rest?” asked Porter. Jacqueline shook her head. She headed out of the shop, followed by Isabella, Jesse and Porter.

As they stood out on the porch a tall, bearded man walked by.

“Ladies,” he said and nodded as he walked briskly by. Porter’s lady friend came out onto the porch. She clenched her white hands and said, “Twenty-six hundred and three hundred in silver.”

“Twenty-nine hundred?” Asked Isabella.

“We’ll take it,” said Jacqueline.

“You okay?” Jesse said, glancing at her with a concerned eye.

“Yeah, I just have a cold.”

It shocked Isabella to see how many old slaves lived out in the woods with nothing more than a black pot to boil clothes in and moonshine still behind their shacks. Moonshine was one of the few ways these former slaves earned money. Jesse paid close attention to the road. There were drunks scattered all along the road and throughout the woods. Children and women sat on the front of rotted porches, watching them pass.

“Do you remember your mother?” Isabella asked Jesse.

“Oh yeah, I’se remember her well. She used to tell me stories about how her and my daddy used to hide out in de woods right after the war with nothing to eat but some berries; they almost starved. A preacher and his wife took them in or daddy said they would have starved to death.” Jesse fetched a blanket and threw it over Isabella. “I did see a man who had starved to death once. It was the worse thing I’se ever seen. Saw him ‘bout sundown, I was going down a road to get back over to
Charleston
. I seen him laying dere and at first I thought that he wuz just drunk. I walked up to him and he didn’t move. I hollered for him to wake up and he barely opened his eyes and glanced up at me. He seemed to be having trouble breathing so I bent down over him. I didn’t smell no liquor so I knew dat he wuz not drunk. His face was sunk in, you could see his rib bones. He took his last breath right there.”

“What did you do?” asked Isabella.

“What could I do? I closed his eyes and covered him up with an old blanket I had with me.”

“Why didn’t you take him into
Charleston
?” asked Jacqueline.

“Woman, you crazy? First, I knew he’d be smellin’ and then I was scared. A Negro riding into town with a dead white man on the back of his horse. You know, in some places dey just looking for a reason to string one of us up. Dere wasn’t no use in me giving dem one. And besides, he wuz dead, dead as he could be.”

More than a couple of hours had passed before they arrived to the sharecroppers cabins. Isabella jumped out of the buggy and ran through the golden brown fields. She saw a woman standing on the porch of one of the shacks; it was Eve. Isabella slowed and looked behind her; she waited for Jesse and Jacqueline. The three of them walked up to the porch to greet Eve.

“I come like I told you I would,” said Isabella.

Eve nodded and smiled. “If you stay too long, Mister Hoyt could come.”

“This time of night?” asked Jacqueline.

“He comes, all times, day or night it don’t matter. If he want something he come. And the truth is dey ain‘t much left for him to take; he dune take whatever dere wuz and de only thing left is us womenfolk.”

There was a moment of silence and then Eve said, “Youse got a gun?”

“I do.” Jacqueline smiled.

A little boy peeked out the window and then ran out onto the front porch.

“Where’s his daddy?” asked Isabella.

“Dey done shoots him dead.”

“Who is they?” asked Jacqueline, “Hoyt?”

“Hoyt and dat man named Jacob.” said Eve. “I didn’t expect it. I told him we’d do as we have to. I thought as long as we done dat den we’d be left alone.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Asked Isabella.

“I wanted to live. At first I begged dem to kill me, den I saw my young-uns face.”

Isabella looked out across the fields of cotton waiting to be baled. She closed her eyes and thought of her mama, granny and Tom, then she saw red blazes of fire.

“He’d rather see the crops go up in flames,” said Isabella in a soft whisper.
The cotton mills were thriving and the sharecroppers and mill workers were starving to death, thought Isabella.

“Did you get it?” asked Eve.

“Yes,” said Isabella.

Clutching the money in her velvet drawstring purse, Jacqueline handed the money to Isabella and Isabella gave it to Eve “In the name of Jesus, sweet, sweet Jesus.” said Eve as she stood still and admired the money in her hands. “Where’d you get it?” She asked, still staring at the money, her knees buckling as she sat down in an old ladder-back chair on the porch of the shack.

“It was no glorious sacrifice, but I felt the shackles start to loosen when I gave it up,” Isabella said, looking at Eve. “Don’t feel ashamed, there is no difference in the four of us—we’ve all been bought and sold for a price. The shame comes in never doing nothing about it and dying that way.” Jacqueline placed her arm around Isabella’s waist.

Isabella broke away from the group and started to walk out through the fields. When she got in the middle of Jules’s cotton field, she turned and looked at Jesse, Jacqueline and Eve, but did not speak. Jesse drew back and narrowed his eyes. “Oh God, has she gone mad!” he whispered. Jesse stepped off the porch and started to run toward a pool of scarlet flames.

“Oh my God! She’s set the field on fire!” Screamed Jacqueline.

Isabella heard Jacqueline’s frightened voice calling for her, but she walked and then ran as fast as she could through the fields. Jesse ran through the fields after her, picked her up in his arms and ran back to the wagon with her.

“Go, and go fast!” Screamed Eve. “I’ll say one of dem crazy men that live out in de ruins set the field on fire. Now go, and get out of here! Remember, I ner seen you. They catch any of us colored folk being involved in dis they will tie us up like hogs!” Eve’s brown eyes were filled with tears.

Jesse smacked the whip across the rump of the horse and the buggy took off, so fast, Isabella and Jacqueline were almost knocked to the floor. They had to get out of there and get back to
Savannah
before sunrise. Jesse shook the reins and screamed at the horse to go faster.

Jacqueline looked over the side of the buggy and said, “What have we done? When Jules finds out, I don’t know what will happen.”

Isabella doubled over; she was in severe pain. She pulled up her skirts and placed her hand between her legs; they were blood red. “I’m losing the baby,” she whispered.

Hot tears came to Jacqueline’s eyes, “Baby?” she said.

Isabella opened her eyes and nodded at Jacqueline.

“Oh you poor thing,” Jacqueline whispered. She put her arms around Isabella and held her tightly.

Finally, Jesse slowed the carriage. The horse gasped for breath. They were in front of Jacqueline’s Oglethorpe mansion. “If anybody asks, we ain’t seen you. No matter what, the three of us wuz not together,” said Jesse.

Jacqueline jumped out of the carriage and saw someone walking in the house. “Patrick’s here. What am I going to tell him? I’ll have to tell him something!” Jacqueline sounded desperate.

Jesse said, “You tell him that you went to the musical last night in de park. Tell him you didn’t feel well and you fell asleep on one of dem park benches.” Jesse’s eyes searched Jacqueline’s face.

“Then what? He sees that I’m getting out of this buggy.”

“Den you tell him dat we found you asleep, tried to get you better and den brought you home.”

“Just like what we did the other day for Isabella!” said Jacqueline.

“Dat’s right, just like dat day,” said Jesse.

“I’ll tell him you took us to Doc Chandler’s. That’s it, we were all at Doc Chandler’s. He’ll back me up. That’s our story. We took Isabella to Doc Chandlers because she was losing the baby!”

“Dat sounds like a good idea. You shure Doc will say we were dere?”

“Yes, if I say so, he will.”

“Okay,” said Jesse.

Jacqueline turned like a frightened child, started up the steps and then ran back to the carriage and threw her arms around Isabella. “I’ll keep your secret, don’t you worry, but hurry home. Jules can be a ruthless man. I know. If there’s one thing he don’t like, it’s to lose” Jacqueline turned and ran up the steps, disappearing into the mansion on Oglethorpe.