Lila

Chapter 4

The walk back to the cabins felt longer than the walk to the forest. Lila and I walked in silence the whole way.

Every once in a while, I would glance over at her to make sure that she was alright. And every time I looked over, she had a smile across her face. Seein' her smile brought a smile to my face too.

When we finally reached the cabins, it was gettin' dark outside.  I brought the firewood inside Lila's cabin and bid everyone goodnight.

I entered my house and stopped dead in my tracks. Uncle Judd was standing in the kitchen waiting for me.

"Where the hell have you been boy?!?" Uncle Judd spewed at me.

"I was collecting firewood for the workers." I answered.

"Two things boy: 1. Those... things are called slaves, not 'workers' and 2.," Uncle Judd came closer to me, "The reason why we got the slaves was for them to do OUR work!! Not for us to do theirs!!!" Uncle Judd growled. He raised his hand and slapped me across the face. I fell to the floor. Uncle Judd's hand felt like steel. I tried to rise but I could not.

Uncle Judd grabbed my shirt collar and picked me up from the ground.

"If I ever find you helping those slaves again, I'll whip ya so hard that when I'm done, there'll be nothin' left to whip. Got it?"

Uncle Judd let go of my collar and dropped me on the floor. He walked away and I heard him close his bedroom door. I laid alone in the dark.

After a moment, I heard faint footsteps coming from the hallway. I strained my eyes to see who it was. A small figure approached and stood me up. The figure led me upstairs and into my room and turned on the light.

It was Carolyn.

"I saw what happened. I was comin' down to get some water and I saw everythin'. Are you alright?" She asked and sat down next to me on my bed.

"Yeah I'm good. But I'm about done with Uncle Judd."  I said angrily.

"You know what you should have done?," Carolyn asked me quietly, "You should have socked him in the mouth!" 

We both laughed.

"So how was your time with Annabelle?" I asked Carolyn while I took off my shoes.

"Great!  And by the way, Annabelle's parents and papa want to talk to you and Annabelle tomorrow." Carolyn informed me.

"Wait, what?!?" I sprang up from my bed.

Carolyn sprang up, too. "What's wrong?!?" 

"Don't you know what this means?!?"

"No! What does it mean?!?"

"They want to talk about marriage!!"

                                                                                           .....................

"Now that everyone's here, we should get started." Mr. Perry said. He was a big man with greying hair.

My father and I sat on the Perry's porch along with Annabelle and her parents. It was the day after Uncle Judd had slapped me. I still had a welt but my father was too depressed to notice.

"What happened to your face, Jessie?" Mrs. Perry asked me.  My father finally look over at me.

"I just fell ma'am.  Nothing major." I lied.

Annabelle was leaning on my shoulder. I was sweating like a hog and her hanging on me was just making it worse. I tried to nudge her away a few times but every time, she gave me a nasty look.

"Okay. We all probably know why we're sitting here. You see, Annabelle and Jessie have been together for quite some time and it has come to the conclusion that they should see to getting married. I would love to have Jessie as a part of our family and it would be an honor to be welcomed into the Wood family. Not only would this be the joining of two madly in love young folks but a great opportunity for business. If our two plantations combined, the outcome would be remarkable. We'd be the richest folk in all of Mississippi!  Mrs. Perry, Annabelle, and I have already approved of this opportunity. So what do you say men?"  Mr. Perry explained.

My father and I glanced at each other.

"We'll give you two a moment to talk about it."  Mrs. Perry said. She led Annabelle and Mr. Perry inside.

My father turned toward me and looked at me with tired eyes. "I think it is a wonderful idea Jessie." He said slowly and quietly as he wiped the sweat off his face.

"Papa!!," I said abruptly, "You've seen the way she treats me! She treats me like... like.... like a slave!! I can't live with that the rest of my life!! I know it would be a great deal with the plantations but I just can't go through it, Papa.  I'm sorry but I refuse."

"Jessie, I will not stand for this! You are going to marry this girl whether you like it or not! If you haven't noticed, Judd has been turning our farm into ruins. We need the help!" Papa yelled.

"Then get rid of Uncle Judd! We can handle the farm on our own. Without the slaves! Trust me, Papa!! Would mama want you doing this?" I asked.

"That's enough, Jessie!!! Do not speak of your mother!!! You are marrying this girl and that is final!! End of story!!" My father bellowed.

I remained silent.

That was it. I had to marry Annabelle.