The Black Rose (55 page)

“We’re rich, Lelia,” Sarah said softly, as if realizing it for the first time.

“Awfully, terribly rich!” Lelia said, squeezing her mother’s hand hard. “And now we have someone to pass it to when we’re gone, Mama. The Walkers have an
heiress
. Don’t you see?”

Sarah raised her head, searching her daughter’s eyes. “Is that why you did it, Lelia? Is that why you adopted that child?”

Lelia smiled sadly. “She was living on the streets, and I can give her anything she wants. I want her to love me,” Lelia said, her eyes earnest. “Is that really so selfish?”

Looking into Lelia’s eyes, Sarah couldn’t bring herself to say a word against it.

Sarah couldn’t remember the last time she’d walked through the arched doorway of Bethel AME Church in Indianapolis, the church she’d adopted after her move to the city. It had been a cruel trick of God’s, she thought, to give her everything she’d dreamed of in exchange for yet another husband. Besides, she couldn’t bear the thought of the staring eyes of people who would have heard the stories about her. That was her own fault, wasn’t it? She’d made herself so famous here now that her very bedroom was fodder for the gossip of strangers.

Take the good with the bad,
C.J. had said. Words from the best friend she’d ever known.

You stupid fool, C.J.
, Sarah thought, gazing at the large brick church’s entrance with a pounding heart.
Why’d you have to try so hard to make me
hate you? Is that the only way you knew I’d let you go?

“Come on, Mama,” Lelia urged softly, hooking her arm inside Sarah’s. Her entire family was assembled outside of the church to go with her today: Mae, Anjetta, and even Lou. It was time she got out of the house, they’d all decided. It was time for her to go on with her life. Already, as worshipers walked past them to go inside, Sarah saw the curious eyes, a few discreet whispers. But mostly she saw smiles. And something else, she realized … Respect.

A young man tipped his hat, stepping aside so she could walk in before him. “Morning, Madam Walker,” he said. As Sarah walked into the sanctuary with her family, heads swiveled around to follow them. Sarah paused as she stood in the center of the aisle, humbled by the sight of the massive pipe organ directly in her path, behind the pulpit; the brass pipes reached the ceiling, framed between two carved pillars and the blue-and-rose-tinted stained-glass windows.

“You ’member you saw that lady, hear?” Sarah heard a mother whisper to a young child. “That’s Madam C.J. Walker. She’s the richest colored lady in the world. You can get anything you want in life, if you just pray and work hard, just like her.”

The richest colored lady in the world
. Mr. Ransom always told her she was well on her way to earning that place. She
could
be someday, couldn’t she? She’d found herself a miracle, and there was no telling where it would end. She could be
great
just like Booker T. Washington, a beacon for her race. All she had to do was try!

“Come on, Mama. You can do it,” Lelia urged quietly, believing she’d lost her nerve. In truth, Sarah had just regained it like never before.

Chapter Thirty-one

February 4, 1913

Mother,

I am so excited to hear you have changed your mind about helping me move
to New York. I promise you’ll never have reason to regret it. New York is the
place to be, Mother. There are so many Negroes coming to Harlem now, and I
am convinced we can build a Walker parlor there that would put us on par with
anyone, white or colored. I know you are worried about the Pittsburgh office,
but I will find a suitable forelady to help Sadie before I move. I’ve grown too
bored and wretched in this place, which reminds me of John. In New York I am
a new person. Once you spend more time there, you’ll want to move, too.
You’ll see!

Love,

Lelia

P.S. Mae and Sadie both send you their love. I have heard from Mr.
Ransom’s wife, Nettie. They seem the perfect couple to me. How nice to have
married a college sweetheart! I’m happy there is still some romance left in
this age.

May 27, 1913

Mrs. Lelia W. Robinson

592 Lenox Avenue, Apt. 12

New York City

My Dear Mrs. Robinson:

I hope it will not be long before I am able to enjoy a long-overdue visit to your new home. Madam has completed her real estate purchases in Gary, and is now the proud owner of a 13-passenger Cole Motor Car. The car is quite a sight, sure to turn heads, so I know you will admire it. Given these purchases, however, I wish you would help me encourage Madam to bank as much money as possible so it can draw interest and protect you against unforeseen hard times. Madam could soon be the wealthiest colored person in America, and I would like to help her reach that goal. Can I depend on your help?

Respectfully,

F.B. Ransom

September 1, 1913

Dearest Lelia,

Well, you are the only one who thinks it’s a good idea for me to go overseas
now to make a name, but you always give me a boost when everyone else says
“Don’t.” I’m just sorry your hands are so full building the house in New York.
This trip is shaping up so nicely in a short time! I am taking my touring car, and
we would have had so many nice hours together. I’ll be leaving next month,
visiting Jamaica, Costa Rica, Haiti, and the Panama Canal Zone. Lottie speaks
French and a little Spanish, so she will get plenty of practice. Yes, I’ll take care
not to get sick near the canal. I have heard those stories, too.

Now, Lela, I’ve already told you I don’t want Mae to miss so much school.
I agree that travel is a good education, and Mae is a wonderful model when she
travels with me, but I think she is too young for this overseas trip. As for you
wanting more time to yourself—now you know how taxing motherhood can be!

Love,

Mother

P.S. No, my penmanship has not improved this much. I dictated this note
to Lottie. She says hello!

December 7, 1913

My Dear Mr. Ransom:

Am writing you to do a friendly turn for me, am dodging behind you to
keep the bullets from hitting me. I have never told Mother the final outcome of
this house. I thought somehow or other I could come out of it without bothering
her again. I am enclosing the estimates.

Now I know, Mr. Ransom, Mother has been wonderful to me. She has
been so good until I know it seems an imposition, and so it is, for me to say
money to her again. That is why I am getting behind you. If Mother was only
here on the job. She could see and know; that is why I want her to come on over
to New York. You can trust me when I say the home is wonderful!

Whatever you do, don’t let her get sore at me and bawl me out, for I am
certainly one nervous child. Am expecting house to be complete enough for us to
move into it in the next two weeks so I will have to have the money right away.

Give my love to Nettie and kiss babies for me. I realize I have certainly
imposed some task on you but you’ll have to be to me what the
Carpathia
was
to the
Titanic.

Anxiously awaiting your answer.

Sincerely,

Lelia W.R.

INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Best Interests
of the Negroes of Indiana

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1914

C.J. WALKER SAYS: “As You Reap So Shall You Sow”

FORMER HUSBAND OF WELL-KNOWN HAIR

MANUFACTURER REGRETS PAST LIFE

To the Freeman:

Dear Sirs: Will you give me space in your valuable paper to warn men against the use of strong drink and women?

I had the best, purest, and noblest woman Christ ever died for, but I let drink and this designing evil woman come between us and now I am a wreck on life’s great sea, with no hope of anchoring. She made me believe I was being treated badly by Mme. Walker because she did not let me handle all the money, not withstanding the fact I had no responsibility, not even my clothes to buy and with $10.00 per week to spend as I pleased.

I was foolish enough to let her persuade me to leave the woman I still love better than life.

By making me believe, with my knowledge of making the goods, and her ability to do the work, and talk, we could make thousands of dollars, and I would be master of the situation. She closed her work at Tuskegee and came to me. We did not do so well under the name of the “Walker-Larrie Co.,” so she planned to get a divorce so we might marry, which she did, and on March 4th, we were married by Rev. Jackson. We were not married long before I discovered she did not love me, but that she only wanted the title Mme. and the formula. The latter, I refused absolutely to give.

My life has been a hell since she went so far as to have me put in jail, said I was interfering with her business, when in truth, the business was my own, a thing Mme. Walker would never have done. She also tied up what little mail there was coming in, so I could not get a cent. All I got was ten cents on Sunday for paper and shoe shine. I left her but she threatened to have me arrested for wife abandonment, so I had to stay and try to get enough money to get out of Louisville, which I found impossible to do as everyone was so prejudiced against us, so I had to appeal to my sister for help. Had it not been for her, and her dear husband, I would have been crazy by this time.

I am here in a strange land, among strangers, broken in health and spirit, but happier than I have been for months. If I get well I mean to start life anew.

I don’t ever want to see Dora Larrie’s face in life, as she is the cause of all my sorrow. Our lives together have been a complete failure.

—C.J. W
ALKER

June 5, 1914

Dear Mr. Walker:

I assure you, I have passed your letters on to Madam Walker. You may have heard that she is currently on a very busy tour of the Northeast, so she has been unable to provide a response. She is very sorry you have been ill, and we both wish you a speedy recovery. I hope in the future, however, you will refrain from any mention of reconciliation with Mme. Walker, as she becomes very irate when you speak along that line. She has made her thoughts on this matter very clear, I think. In the future, I would suggest you limit your inquiries to business.

Respectfully,

F.B. Ransom

July 31, 1915

Dear Mr. Ransom,

Am writing to let you know I have given a check for $1,381.50 to the
Cadillac Motor Co. Won’t you see to it that the check is cashed. If there isn’t
enough in the bank place it in there out of your reserves. I guess you think I am
crazy but I had a chance to get just what Lelia wanted in a car that had been used
a little. It was worth $2,650 and I got it for $1,381.50. Since I was going to
give her one for Xmas I thought I had better snatch her one, as it would save me
money. Just received a letter from Willie and he can’t find any work to do.
Would you think about me letting him come there? He could work for me and he
and his mother live in the house, since I am not going to be in Indianapolis. I
would rather that than always sending him money, as it makes him so dependent.

Write me how everything is getting along. Also what my balance is. Love to
Nettie and babies. Best regards for yourself. Am leaving today for Colorado
Springs.

Yours,

Madam

August 2, 1915

Madam C.J. Walker

Salt Lake City, Utah

Dear Madam,

To answer your question, I don’t fear for your sanity, but I do worry about your bank balance. My only consolation is the knowledge that you cannot possibly find anything else left to buy! Ha, ha.

Regarding your nephew Willie, I share your relief that he is finally free, but I do not believe you should invite him to have such close contact with you. His mother is already behaving as if your home is her palace, and I fear Willie would adopt the same attitude. He is an adult, and he should find a job on his own. If he’s having difficulties where he is, then he should move. There is no good reason he can’t support himself. I know you will act as you see fit, but I felt it was only fair to warn you. Sometimes, Madam, your heart is too kind.