I’m not feeling too exceptional this evening. I’m not in labor, but I am definitely disabled beyond my creative capacity. So, I rummaged through some old folders and found a paper I wrote for my short story class at BYU. I know the colloquial isn’t my strength, but it is something to read!
If it seems ridiculously long, that is okay, you’ve got the whole weekend to read it. And 90% is dialogue – easy peasy.
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http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Senegal.html#b
“Adah!”
Adah looked up. A young black girl in a faded skirt and worn out shoes was calling to her. “Whatcha want, Missy?”
“Mr. Farris tole me ta come out an’ getcha.”
Adah nervously glanced at the other women working around her. They all kept their heads down and concentrated on avoiding eye contact. She called back, “Ya know what he want me for?”
“Dunno. All he tole me is ta come out and getcha; says he wants ta see ya in his office.” Missy shrugged her shoulders and turned back towards the big white house a mile west.
Adah’s aunt Connie frowned. She let her eyes wander over Adah’s slim but curvy figure—too pretty for her own good. “Bes’ go on up there then; no use waitin’.”
Adah glared fiercely at the great house looming in the distance. She dropped her bag and followed Missy through the rows of cotton, trying not to think of what she could only assume Mr. Farris wanted her for. Everyone knew he had been seeing a lot of Aliza, but recently Aliza had started to show, so he stopped. Adah hadn’t spent much time around Mr. Farris. She and Eliot adhered to the maxim, “If you let them alone, they’ll let you alone”; if only that were true. As far as she could remember, Mr. Farris wasn’t much to look at. He was an older man—she guessed somewhere in his early fifties. He had big bushy eyebrows and thinning hair. He was thick around the middle, but not fat, and he had a big shiny ring on his right hand. Adah had never seen a ring like that before. The stone in it was red, and the band was silver. The fatness of the finger it sat on gave it a sort of devilish, gluttonous sort of appearance, though, like it was used for black magic or something.
Adah’s ring was a nail Eliot had fashioned into a smooth circle. Some people made fun of them for wanting wedding rings, but Eliot and Adah believed that was their mark of ownership. They belonged to each other, and the rings proved it somehow. Seven months now and Adah still wasn’t pregnant. She worried about it, but Eliot reminded her it just took a little time for some people. They weren’t legally married, no point in having a legal marriage as a slave, wouldn’t mean anything anyways. Once when she was little, Adah asked her mom why slaves didn’t have weddings like Mr. Farris’ oldest daughter. Her mother simply laughed and said, “Cause there ain’t no use. Only white people need weddings to be married. We can be married jus’ fine without ‘em.” So without any hoopla Adah moved into Eliot’s cabin and after that, they were married. Her aunt had made a fancy dinner for them; it was the best meal Adah ever tasted. It made that day something special. There was corn, yams, bread, and meat stew. No better way to start a marriage than with a meal like that. Eliot and Connie were all the family Adah had left now. Everyone else had either died or been sold.
Adah paused outside the back door reserved for slaves. She felt nauseous, and Eliot kept running through her mind. She was glad he wasn’t here. He’d probably do something to get them both whipped. She followed Missy to Mr. Farris’ office and stood there with her nose in the air while Missy knocked. “Adah’s here sir.”
A gruff voice from behind the doors shouted back, “Bring her in, then.” Missy opened the door and then closed it behind Adah. Mr. Farris was the only person in the room, and Adah shifted uneasily on the soft white carpet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schriever_LA_Jackson_Plantation_House_1940.jpg
“Well, Adah,” he said with a serious smile. Adah just slightly nodded her head. Mr. Farris stared at her for a few seconds and then picked up a box with pink and white stripes on it. He slowly lifted the lid. “Ever had a chocolate before, Adah?”
“No sir.”
“Well, you should have one then.” Mr. Farris opened the box and held it toward Adah. He studied her face and hair before resting his eyes on her waist and hips.
Adah’s cheeks burned under their pressure. “No, thank you, sir.” She wouldn’t move one step closer to him for anything.
Mr. Farris let out a barking laugh. “Well don’t be so proud, girl. Just have a chocolate. You won’t regret it.” He popped one in his own mouth. “My wife loves them.”
At the mention of Mrs. Farris, Adah got angry. She was ashamed to even be in this room. “No, thank you.” She purposely left out the ‘sir’ and put as much disgust into the words as she dared.
Mr. Farris hastily closed the box and placed it back on his desk. He fingered a few objects before settling with an empty envelope. “I asked you to come here so we could set up a little arrangement between ourselves.” He tried to catch Adah’s eye but she kept them firmly on the white carpet. Mr. Harris let out a small cough. “For tonight.”
Adah began sweating. She had to refuse, but she didn’t know how. She softly mumbled, “I dunno.”
Mr. Farris leaned forward. “What?” He sounded more surprised than angry.
Adah cleared her throat. “I don’ think I’ll be home tonight.” Her heart was fluttering anxiously.
Mr. Farris frowned. “You’ll be there.”
“I dunno if I’ll be home.” Adah’s voice shook and she felt dizzy. She was afraid of what he might say next, but she couldn’t face Eliot tonight any other way.
“Will Eliot be with you?” Mr. Farris raised his eyebrows and began folding the envelope into quarters.
“I dunno.” Adah’s voice cracked.
“I think you’ll both agree it’s best if you’re there, and he isn’t.” Mr. Farris tore the paper along the creases. “I don’t want to cause a scene.”
That was an obvious warning. Slave whippings were a public exhibit for Mr. Farris. Everyone was required to attend them; they served as a reminder of white power versus black inferiority. Adah’s voice was caught. The image of Eliot standing on a raised wooden platform while Mr. Farris beat him with a cow-hide paralyzed her. “Yes, sir” she whispered. Hot tears were running down her cheeks but she couldn’t feel them because her whole body was burning.
Mr. Farris slightly smiled, “You’re a good girl.” He sat behind his desk and waved Adah out. “Missy will show you out.”
Adah stumbled out of the house and back towards the cotton rows. Her feet were light, and it was hard to feel the ground. She didn’t bother going back to the field. She just floated past, ignoring everyone’s curious and pitiful looks. Adah fumbled into her cabin and slammed the door behind her. She tried to breathe slowly but her throat was closing; she lowered herself onto the pallet her and Eliot slept on. They had to do something, and she knew they had no choice but to run.
Aunt Connie let herself in the cabin and stood right in front of Adah. She looked edgy. “What’d Mr. Farris want?”
“Ya know what he wanted.”
“Did ya say ‘yes’?”
Adah laughed, “What else I gonna say?”
Connie lowered herself down next to Adah. “I dunno.” Connie hugged herself. “What ya gonna tell Eliot?”
“What d’ya mean?”

http://www.tompsc.com/Gallery.aspx?PID=229
“How ya gonna tell him he can’t be here tonight?”
“Well I’m a tell him what happened. Then I’ll tell him we’re leavin’.”
Connie looked up in surprise. “Where ya goin’?.”
Adah stood up and breathed deeply. “We gonna run.”
“Ya gonna try and run? You have no idea what ya doin’!”
Adah began pacing through the cabin.
“If ya leave tonight, Eliot’s gonna be whipped to an inch of his life.”
Adah opened a small potato sack and began placing tin cups and spoons in it. “I ain’t stayin’ here, and he’s comin’ with me.”
Connie grabbed the potato sack. “Ya can’t leave tonight. That takes months to figure. Ya have no plan; no one knows ya comin’.”
“We’ll jus’ go north.”
“Ya don’ know where north is.” Connie almost screamed. She held Adah by the shoulders. “If ya leave tonight, ya’ll both be caught and whipped to high heaven, and none of it gonna make a difference. Mr. Farris still gonna come, even if ya back is ripped to shreds, and he the one that done it.”
Adah pulled away, “I ain’t gonna let that happen.”
“Ya can’t stop it.”
“We can make it out.”
“No, ya can’t.” Connie gently held Adah’s face and forced her to look in her eyes. “Adah, if ya run, ya won’t make it. Ya’ll be caught, both a ya whipped, and Eliot sold. Ya might be sold too, after Mr. Farris get his way. And I know it won’ be same place Eliot is.”
Adah jerked herself free. “What d’ya think we do then?” she asked angrily.
Connie bowed her head. “Stay here, accept ya life, and when Mr. Farris had his way, act like it never happen.”
“I ain’t gonna do that.” Adah said with repulsion.
Connie spoke gravely. “It’s the only way ya both be safe, and it’s the only way ya can keep each other.”
Adah screamed in frustration. She threw herself onto the pallet. “If we do that, we ain’t gonna be each other’s anymore.”
“At least try.” Connie sat next to Adah and pulled her into a hug. “If ya love each other ‘nough, ya’ll be fine.”
Eliot came into the cabin whistling ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ and tossed his large sunhat on the table. He came to kiss Adah, but her paleness startled him. “Ya sick?”
Adah turned to the wall. “No.”
“Wha’s wrong then?”
Connie stroked her hair. “Mr. Farris saw Adah today.”
Eliot frowned, “What he want?”
Adah’s voice shook. “Same thing he wanted with Aliza.”
Eliot sat bewildered for a few seconds; then he understood. He bit his lower lip and roughly grabbed Adah’s face. “What did ya say?” He shook her, “What did ya say, Adah?” Adah closed her eyes so she didn’t have to look at him.
Connie pulled Adah away from Eliot and began rocking her. “What she gonna say Eliot?”
Eliot grabbed Adah’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “We’re leavin’.”
Connie shook her head. “Where ya gonna go, Eliot?”
He glared at her. “Anywhere.”
“There ain’t anywhere for ya ta go.”
“We ain’t stayin’.”
“If ya try and leave tonight ya’ll be caught.”
“We’ll hide in da woods.”
“They got dogs for that.”
“We ain’t stayin’,” he yelled.
Connie jumped to her feet and yelled back. “Ya wanna get her whipped to death?”
Eliot paced the cabin a few times before returning to Adah’s side. He softly touched her hair. “We can go.”

http://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2010/01/05/in-the-kitchen-with-madame-early/
Adah slowly shook her head and began to cry.
Eliot shook her, “If we let ‘em do this, that mean they got everythin’.” He frantically searched Adah’s face but she was avoiding his eyes.
“Oh, Eliot, they got it all a long time ago.” Adah pulled away and quietly lay down on their pallet.
Eliot knelt in front of Adah. “We won’ be broken.”
Adah watched Eliot’s face with pity. She grabbed his large callous hands and raised them to her neck. “We don’t got the power to keep ourselves whole.”
“No. We gonna do somethin’.”
“There ain’t nothin’ we can do, Eliot. Connie’s right. We jus’ gotta take it and preten’ diff’rent.”
“So ya jus’ let this happen?” Eliot looked at Adah with fear.
She turned away. “Don’ know what else ta do.”
Eliot stood. “I ain’t leavin’ this cabin tonight.”
Connie gravely touched his shoulder. “Then ya can ‘spect to be horsewhipped and thrown out.”
Eliot looked at her with frustration. She was right. He knew it, but he couldn’t stand aside to Mr. Farris. “I don’ care.”
“Eliot, that ain’t gonna help anybody. Ya’ll only make it worse for her.” She gently placed her hand on his cheek. “It’s best if ya jus’ leave for tonight.”
Eliot watched Adah rock back and forth on the pallet. “This my cabin, I ain’t leavin.”
Adah laughed sharply. “Mr. Farris owns this cabin, Eliot.”
Eliot crossed the cabin and leaned against the fireplace. “Well, he don’ own you.”
Adah looked up in surprise. “Sho, he does.” She gave Eliot a sad smile. “We jus’ forgot.”
Eliot knelt in front of Adah. He grabbed her left hand and pressed down her ring, “We belong ta each other.”
Adah leaned forward into his shoulder, “I wish it mean that.”
Eliot held Adah’s head against him. “If I let him take ya, then I ain’t a man. If I can’t keep my wife, then I’m nothin’ better than those beasts in the barn.”
Connie stepped towards him. “Who ever say a slave was a man, Eliot?”
“I did.” He had always believed he could be a man, even if he was bought, sold, and beaten. If he believed he was, then he would be a man. If he acted like one, then he would be a man. He wouldn’t let them turn him into some kind of dumb animal.
Eliot moved onto the pallet next to Adah and tried to calm her while she cried. He would be whipped before he left her. At least then he could believe in his own ability to suffer for her. That would mean something. His opposition had to mean something.
Adah could only cry. She waited for Mr. Farris without any feelings of rebellion. He would come, and Eliot would have to leave, and then their marriage would be over. She and Eliot were wrong in pretending. Their bent up nails didn’t mean anything. They were slaves; different from people.
After an hour of anxious waiting, the cabin door opened. Mr. Farris stood with a frown on his face and a whip in his left hand. He let out a cough. Eliot stood to face him with a hard expression. Mr. Farris lifted the whip. “I was hoping you wouldn’t be here, Eliot. I don’t want to harm a good slave over nothing.” He laid the whip down on the table.
Connie and Adah nervously watched Eliot. He stood in front of the pallet with clenched fists. Connie grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward the door. “Is’ only way, Eliot.” He stood without recognizing her efforts. He couldn’t move. Connie glanced nervously at Mr. Farris. “Don’ make it worse.”

http://www.bluegrayreview.com/2010/11/13/plantation-owner-pins-hopes-on-gridlock/
Mr. Farris moved the whip to his right hand. “I don’ want to harm you, Eliot.”
Adah remained turned toward the wall, silently shaking. She wanted Eliot to leave, but she was afraid he would. He couldn’t leave her with Mr. Farris, but he didn’t have a choice. All she managed was a soft, “Please, Eliot.”
Eliot smirked at Mr. Farris while he slowly raised his hands and pulled his shirt off. Connie gasped, and Adah began to cry harder. Eliot turned and placed his hands against the wall for support.
Adah was relieved he hadn’t left. He was going to stay for her, and Mr. Farris wouldn’t touch her.
Mr. Farris took a few steps forward and anxiously looked from Adah to Eliot. Connie put her hands to her face and began to cry. Mr. Farris laid the cowhide against Eliot’s back twice before Connie began to scream. Mr. Farris paused to ask if Eliot was ready to leave. When he didn’t respond, Mr. Farris whipped him twice more. Eliot’s back began bleeding and dark red streams followed the path of his clenched muscles.
Adah covered her ears and tried to breathe. It wasn’t going to work. Mr. Farris would stay until Eliot was unconscious. She raised her hands to stop Mr. Farris and forced herself off the pallet. She found a rag and dipped it in a bucket of water before laying it across Eliot’s shoulders. She stood in front of him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders before leading him out of the cabin.

http://secondat.blogspot.com/2009/10/working-from-can-to-cant.html
Eliot slowly moved forward, allowing her to guide him. He closed his eyes. It would be too hard to see. He couldn’t keep Adah; he couldn’t be a man.
Connie followed and gently pressed the towel against the open sores. “Ya’ll get through this. Is’ part a who we are, part a wha’ we do.”
Eliot knew he wouldn’t get through it. He might return to Adah, and they could pretend it didn’t happen. But they both would know she didn’t belong to him, and he wasn’t her husband. He wasn’t really a man, and they couldn’t pretend he was.
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