Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan

Author:Robert Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2016-03-03T05:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Jonah

After Mr. Wells punished him with the hot and cold water, Jonah was ashamed to look at anyone at Miss Linda’s. They all knew he’d been humbled and broken. They knew he’d begged Mr. Wells and promised him to be nothing but his dog. Somehow men like Mr. Williams and Mr. Wells knew that the worst pain, the most lasting pain, was not to the body but to one’s dignity. That’s what their punishments were intended for, to destroy the last sliver of your dignity.

Lonella and Hettie and the girls knew he’d screamed and begged and cried like a baby. They’d all returned from church while Mr. Wells was torturing him. He couldn’t look at their faces. And when he passed a mirror, he couldn’t look at his own face. When he was around Miss Linda, he looked at the floor. They’d caught him seeking pleasure with an Indian girl. It was a very personal humiliation, something he knew he would never forget.

After that Sunday morning he and Prissy avoided each other. She’d been punished again and had screamed and screamed. Whether they had used ice to hurt her or not Jonah didn’t know. Prissy turned away when she passed him in the hall or saw him in the dining room. He understood that she was ashamed, ashamed of what had been done to her, and what had been done to him. After that Sunday morning Prissy never spoke to him again.

As he regained his strength, Jonah began planning his escape. He knew that Miss Linda and Mr. Wells expected him to try to run away after he was punished. As soon as he was missed, they’d tell the sheriff, and men on horses with rifles and dogs would ride after him. They’d run him down in a few hours. He knew he had to wait until they no longer expected him to run. And he had to convince them he was humble as dirt and happy to be at Miss Linda’s.

Whenever Miss Linda spoke to him he bowed his head and said, “Yes, Miss Linda.” He took off his hat whenever white folks passed near him. As summer changed into fall, the trees all around took on bright colors. Hickories became rusty gold and maples bright yellow and orange. And some maples on the ridge above the town turned pink orange. Jonah had never seen such intense colors. The mornings were cool and the afternoons sunny and hot. Molasses furnaces steamed in the valley outside town.

Jonah studied the mountains to the north and the mountains to the south. Roanoke was in a trough between two long chains of mountains running to the northeast and southwest. He knew he’d have to run to the northeast. He’d have to go soon if he was to make it to the North before winter came. Because it was getting cool at night, Miss Linda bought him a jacket of heavy jean cloth. It was the kind of coat called a Negro Jacket, the color of blue ink.

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