The Thirteenth

Chapter 9

 Antebellum, Georgia - 1866 (Present)

After five long years in hiding, a new addition had been added to the family. Baby Adam Richard Wyatt Jr. was just born in August of 1885. Just five months old, he was already the favorite Wyatt in the house.

Richard and Anita had also gotten married. Priest Adam Wyatt had called them together in holy matrimony. And the audience had been Darrell and Jimmy. They've been married for three years now.

The Civil War had ended with the result of the Union winning. And news about the 13th Amendment being adopted on December 6th, 1885, sprawled around the city like a fresh forest fire. The 13th amendment abolished slavery in all 50 states, and promised freedom to every slave that's been previously bound. Jimmy and Anita were now free, but still not safe.

Darrell had decided to stick around even after the Civil War ended. He loved being around an environment where people weren't narrow minded and ignorant. But instead peaceful and treated equally.

Since the amendment had been passed, and slaves were now legally free, Richard and Anita had made plans to head to Massachusetts where interracial marriage was legal. Baby A.R and Jimmy would go along with them, and they'd live happily ever after; unbothered and free.

Until their plans came crashing down on the very night before they had planned to leave the South.

"Hey, N*gg*rs!" a man from outside the house had shouted. "I knoooow yer in theerre!"

Anita and Richard quickly looked at each other.

"Come out 'fore we drag you out!" another voice said.

"They found us," Adam spoke. He saw the bright light of flaming torches through the cracks of the boarded it up windows.

Jimmy stood straight up from where he was sitting. "C'mon. We gots to leave!"

"No," Richard said. "We can't."

"Why not?" Darrell asked.

"Because they've been lookin' fer us for years. If we run, they ain't gonna stop until we're dead," Richard explained. He stared motionlessly at the door. Expecting the mob to kick it down at any point and time.

Anita cradled A.R closer to her chest after another man had called out a threat. "What're you sayin', Richard?"   

"I'm sayin', this ends now," Richard responded. "We...end now."

Jimmy began to pace around the room in anxiety. "What?! You givin' up?!"

Richard shrugged in disappointment. "We've no other choice."

"Yeah, we do," Darrell broke in. "We can run."

There was a banging on the door, and everyone in the house jumped. A.R began to cry in fear. "Sh," Anita whispered to her baby to try to get him to quiet down.

"Richard's right," Adam spoke. "There's no use in runnin'. They've found us."

Anita rushed over to Darrell, "Here," she said placing A.R into her arms. "Take 'em and go as far as  you can from this evil place. Go somewhere up North. And ne'er come back!"

Darrell looked down at the baby and tried not to tear up. "What?"

"We want you to run away with our baby," Richard said, tears streaming down his face. "I trust you, cousin."

"What? Why me?" Darrell asked with a shaky voice.

"You ain't the one they want," Richard stated. "They want us. Me, Papa, Anita, and Jimmy. The Negro lovers and slaves."

"No," Darrell said shaking his head. He began to cry as well. Taking step after step closer to the parents of A.R, he rejected their order. "No. I ain't leaving y'all here for dead!"

"Listen to me, Darrell!" Adam shouted grabbing on to his nephews shoulders. "You take that boy, and take real good care of him! The both of you at that! Bring him up in the right way! As a Christian, and a man. Don't let these ignorant naysayers get to him either. Ya hear?!"

Darrell nodded his head, and he could barely see who he was talking to by the tears that flooded his eyes.

"You got ten seconds 'fore I burn this whole house down!" one of the men from the outside shouted.

Anita rushed over to her son, lightly kissed him on the forehead, and said, "Be strong, baby." The baby had Richard's eyes. And despite what would happen to Richard and her, she was glad that there was still a piece of them that was going to be walking around. "Thank you," she said to Darrell. And placed a light kiss on the cheek.

Richard went over to the baby and kissed him between his eyes. "Be good, kid. Daddy'll always be with you."

Adam then walked over to his grandson, and nearly broke down into tears. "What a beautiful creation," he said. "You are the peace that ends the tension between the White folks and Black folks.. You are the proof that people of two different ethnic backgrounds can come together in love, despite how much of the world can come against them. And most importantly, you are the son of two very strong and brave human beings. May God grant you the strength and power to overcome every obstacle that will ever been thrown at you in your life," and he ended his speech with a kiss on the top of his head.

Jimmy was the last one to say his goodbyes to the baby. He kissed him on the nose, then walked away as if he weren't worthy.

"Four!" the mob outside shouted.

"There's a back door at the end of the hallway," Adam quickly shouted. "Go!"

"Three!"

Darrell took off running with the baby, heading towards the back of the house. He kicked the door open, and made his way through the night.

"Two!"

"Here I come, Mama," Anita whispered to herself. She stepped closer to her husband and grabbed his hand.

"One!"

And that's when the bright light of a fire busted through the house. After the boarded up windows burned down, the mob began to throw their torches through the windows. And after ten minutes. The house was up in flames, along with the people in it.

Darrell and A.R sat on the bench of a train station, waiting for the next train that would take them to their destination. He cradled A.R in his arms, and stared down at his beauty. "Ya know," he said to him, "If I ain't know better, I would've thought you and your daddy were twins."

A.R responded with a big smile, and Darrell smiled back.

The Thirteenth admendment set every slave in the U.S free. Free from bondage, free from abuse, but the freedom to love whomever they wanted was still under restriction. Anita and Richard will forever be in love, and Baby A.R will always be the product of that love. And no man, no matter what color, could ever change that. 

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." - The U.S Constitution

-The End-

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A/N: Please leave comments and tell me whether or not you think I should make a sequel? Thanks for reading!