Freeman by Jr. Leonard Pitts

Author:Jr., Leonard Pitts [Jr., Leonard Pitts]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, War
ISBN: 9781572846999
Amazon: 1572846992
Goodreads: 15698789
Publisher: Agate Bolden
Published: 2012-05-08T07:00:00+00:00

George Flowers was almost 14 years old and that, he felt, was too old for a tanning. Yet Pa had tanned him anyway, but good, on hearing from that nigger how George had stolen Pa’s squirrel gun and shot that other nigger, the big one, in the arm.

With that, George’s mortification was complete. Not only had the fellows seen him forced to back down from that highfalutin Yankee strumpet on Main Street, not only had they seen him tuck tail and run from that big nigger in the alley behind the warehouse, but now they also knew he had been taken over one knee like some baby still in short pants. After all that, how could he ever hold his head up in town again?

He could not.

So last night, George had slipped down to the water, untied Pa’s raft, and struck off down the river to seek his fortune. This, he knew, would only make Pa angrier; he used his rafts to barter and trade and occasionally earn a few pennies providing transport to towns too small or too ruined to be served by the steamboats. But George didn’t care. He would go to Vicksburg, maybe even all the way down to New Orleans, and start his life anew.

At least, that had been the plan. But now, a day and a half later, lying on his back lulled by the late afternoon sun and by the gentle rocking of the raft down the center of the big river, George’s intentions had begun to soften around the edges. He thought of how distraught Ma would be at the thought of her oldest child adrift in the world, heaven only knew where. He thought of Seth, his seven-year-old brother, and how lost he would be without George to show him how to play base ball or shoot marbles. He even thought of Pa a little and how maybe he wasn’t really the worst father in the world. After all, Dewey Jacobs’s father drank all the time and beat the tar out of Dewey on a regular basis. Pa only tanned George when he misbehaved.

A bank of clouds slid across the face of the sun. Maybe, thought George, he should just go back and take his medicine. It might not even be as bad as all that. They might be so happy to see him that all would be forgiven. And besides, he was beginning to get hungry.

George had about talked himself into beaching the raft and beginning the long walk home. But the sun felt so good upon his face and the current was so slow and peaceful. The river, when it was in a good mood, had this way of making you feel contented within the moment, making you feel that all was right with the world. Surely, he told himself, there would be no harm in resting here a few minutes more.

He slept without knowing.

He woke without knowing at first what had wakened him. He was surprised to see that

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