My Lover, My Slave

Chapter 3

Rosa Jackson

The Big Tree was the infamous spot where the slaves were punished. It was at the back of the cabins, covered by smaller trees. It was far enough that you couldn't see the slaves being whipped, but close enough that you could hear the screams. When Master Henry told me to meet him there, I was slightly confused and scared. But nevertheless, I met him there. At sundown, I made sure I was finished all my work and I headed for the Big Tree. Master Henry was there waiting for me. Just the sight of him made me swoon.

"Hi," he said in his sweet, sweet voice.

"Hello, Master Henry." I smiled.

He smiled and took my hand.

"Come." he said and brought further into the forest.

"Master Henry, where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see." he replied.

In a few minutes, we were in a cleared part of the forest. There was a hammock attached to two trees and a little cabin for storing things.

"This is my secret spot," Henry said, "I found it when 12 years old. No one knows about it, except you."

"Master Henry, this-" I started.

"Don't call me that. At least not here. Just call me Henry when we're here." he interrupted me, with good reason.

"I will Mast- Henry." I said.

"Good," he smiled, "Do you know how to read?"

"No..." I replied, a bit thrown off by his sudden question.

"Perfect." he replied.

"Perfect?" I asked.

"Perfect." he confirmed, "Now I can teach you."

Henry Sawyer

I taught Rosa how to read and write over the next few months and she caught on surprisingly well. I was able to teach her about once every two weeks. I asked my father if I could have the job of waking the slaves. He accepted without hesitation. So, at least twice a month, Rosa was "sick". Sometimes she would be "sick" for a week and we would spend the week together.

Over those months, she learnt a lot, but I learnt a lot too. I learnt that Rosa had a dream of being free. I learnt she had a sister and brother, but she had no idea if they at the same plantation that she came from. Rosa loved to sing; she could sing about anything and it would sound beautiful.

My little secret spot became her safe haven where she could do or say whatever she pleased. I would teach her or we'd just talk. Other times, we wouldn't even talk; we'd...kiss or just sit silence. We never feared anyone would find us.

One inevitable day, when the leaves were starting to fall and everything was red, orange and yellow, I was reading an old book of mine with Rosa. We were sitting on a pile of leaves and I had my arm around her. She would read out loud and I would help her with words she didn't know. We were getting to the good part, when all hell breaks loose, I didn't know it was going to happen to me. The worst person who could've come, came.

"Rosa?!" exclaimed Mary, "What in the name of the good Lord are you doing?"

On instinct I blurted, "Don't tell anyone!"

"It depends on what you's doin'." Mary shot back.

"He's just teaching me how to read." Rosa explained, "It ain't what you think."

"Really? Because the Master Henry gots his arm 'round you." Mary pointed out.

I quickly folded my arms and stood up. Mary gave me a look saying, "That ain't going to work." and she said, "I'm telling the Master."

"You can't do that," I said, "who's he going to believe a slave or his own son?"

"Has you forgotten Elias already?" Mary suddenly asked.

I sighed and looked at the ground, as Rosa asked, "Who's Elias?"

Using it as an advantage, Mary asked, "She don't know 'bout Elias?"

"She doesn't need to know." I mumbled.

"Who's Elias?" Rosa asked again.

"She should know." Mary argued.

"No! I don't want her to know!" I exclaimed, "That's the end of it."

"Henry, I want to know who Elias is." Rosa asked so innocently.

I gave her a small smile and stroked her cheek.

"She should know." Mary said suddenly.

I took my hand back and said, "No."

There was no way on earth that I was going to tell Rosa about Elias. She wouldn't want to talk to me anymore. She would hate me like everybody else. There was no way, I was letting that happen. For once in my life I was happy and I wasn't about to throw that away.

Rosa Jackson

I was mad. I wanted to know who Elias was and nobody would tell. I didn't understand the whole brouhaha anyway. How hard was it to tell someone who another person was? I frowned at Henry. He frowned back.

"No." Henry said.

"Yes." I replied, "I want to know."

"You don't need to know." Henry protested.

He was adamant to fact that he wasn't going to tell me. So, I turned to Mary.

"Mary, who is Elias?" I asked sweetly.

"Elias is-" she started.

"NO!" Henry interrupted her, "You will not tell her, that is my order. You have to listen to me."

Mary sighed and folded her arms. She didn't say another word. I, on the other hand, had lots to say.

"Well, I demand that you tell me who Elias is, Henry, or else I will go to your father myself and tell him what you've been doing." I threatened.

"You wouldn't." Henry said, his eyes widening.

"I will if you don't tell me. Please tell me." I pleaded.

Henry collapsed to the ground and put his head in his hands.

"I shouldn't have taught you to read," Henry muttered, "you get too many ideas."

He motioned for me to sit and held my hands. He gave me a defeated look and spilled the whole story. When he finished, I was shocked. i didn't know what to do. The only thing I could think of hurt me, but it was the only option.

"We can't keep doing this." I said.

"Rosa-" he started.

"No, we can't." I cut him off, "You saw what happened to Elias. You want that to happen to me?"

"Of course not, but-"

"No, we can not keep doing this. It's over Master Henry."

With that, I walked away.

Henry Sawyer

That night I didn't sleep. All I could think about was Rosa and how we could never be together. I realized that I loved her that night. I couldn't bear the thought of no us.

Rosa Jackson

At night, I my life over. If I had just been grateful of what I had instead of going after what wasn't mine, none of this would've happened, I thought. Mary wasn't talking me; she considered me a traitor. Going with the Master's son, what was I thinking? 

I couldn't sleep that night because I couldn't stop thinking about Master Henry and Elias. I knew I shouldn't have, but I loved that Master Henry and it almost killed me to let him go.