Misery in Heaven

The New Slaves

"Okay sister, I'll be taking you to town today. Maybe you can meet some people." says Gabriel. Adelaide looked happy; she never had gone to town before. She'd love to go! Gabriel and Adelaide go down the stairs and out the house meeting Charlotte who was already on the wagon waving happily. They both get on the wagon. Adelaide marveled Charlotte's beautiful green dress which also had a cloak that fitted perfectly with it. It also worked for the season, late fall of 1806. "Nice dress." Adelaide said kindly. "Well thank you Miss Adelaide." Charlotte replied. Charlotte has always been a kind person. When Charlotte and Gabriel first started dating Charlotte would always give Adelaide a cookie. Adelaide loved those cookies. Adelaide sat next to Charlotte on the wagon and then looked at who was driving it, a young girl. Wait, Lulu! 'Wow, she knows how to do many things' Adelaide thought.

"Sister, slavery is a very good thing for the slaves. You realize the slaves are taken away for being savages in this country called Africa." said Gabriel. He must have been saying this because of what they were talking about a few days before with the picnic basket. "Savages, Africa?" asked Adelaide. She never heard of Africa before. "Yup, in Africa, as I heard, the slaves talked in weird languages and acted like animals, savages. Being taken away from there to the Americas and other countries was the best thing for them. They are now given food, work, and housing. Much better then walking around in Africa half naked!" Gabriel laughed. Adelaide giggled a bit too. "Yes, my brothers use to work catching Africans." Charlotte says. "He said that in their villages the women were half naked and the men were too. They danced and talk crazily. They thought the Africans were possessed by the devil and taking them here was the Godliest thing to do!". Gabriel and Adelaide both shivered from the thought of possessed people. "They should be grateful they were taken here, you remember that Ade!" Charlotte straightened her dress and looked forward.

'These people are horrible; my mama said that Africa was a beautiful place of many beautiful things. They are the savages.' thought Lulu. She remembered what her Mama told her. That she was taken from her home at such a young age, that Africa was a beautiful place and then they took it away from her. That they were not savages there, that they had normal with the same type of trading, farming, and other things that the whites have. She hated the thought of being taken away from her home forever. It seemed horrible to think about. Lulu just kept on driving. She wished she could've told Adelaide about this before her horrible brother did. At the town Lulu drove the wagon right in front of a slave sell. People were screaming numbers as Charlotte and Gabriel walked out of the wagon into the crowd. Adelaide was told to stay in the wagon. "Hey Lulu-Anna!' says Adelaide happy to see her again. "Don't believe your brother, he be lying about Africa bein' full of demons and possessed people. My mama from there. She say it be better then here, much more civilized. Don't tell 'em I said that." said Lulu. She just needed to tell her. Ade nodded but did not know who to believe, her older brother, or a slave. She then looked at the auction, looked at the people crying when they were sold. They didn't look so happy. Then she heard the screaming coming out of the Africans mouths, the screaming of weird words. They cried and screeched and were whipped. Maybe they are demons and Lulu's mama has not been telling the truth to her. Maybe they aren't. She was so confused. She just listened to the adults bid and stayed quiet, she didn't know what to think or what to say as the slave sell went on.

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"Are last sell will be of two, straight from Africa young girls. Like the others, these two girls were already given their proper names. Cynthia and Celia" the seller man yelled. "Last two, get them both, or get them separately. Now let's star the bidding at a hundred!" Lulu saw the two girls, both were hugging each other, crying in words she couldn't understand. Not just because it was the African language they had but that they were also very far away from her. One, who Lulu guessed was Celia, was about a year or two older then her. She hold her, what Lulu guessed, was her younger sister, who she guessed was Cynthia. Cynthia was so small, and so scared. Adelaide saw how scared the two girls were, hugging each other and crying. She couldn't help but have sympathy for the poor girls.