Good Fortune (9781416998631) by Carter Noni

Author:Carter, Noni
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2010-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

30

DANIEL AND I HAD BEEN LIVING HERE FOR A LITTLE OVER TWO and a half months, and we were falling quite well into our new lives—new homes, new ideas, new goals.

I continued my work at Mama Bessie’s house, taking care of the children, doing laundry, and cleaning. That was the trade between us: Mama Bessie offered us a home, and I helped out. Daniel lived half an hour from Mama Bessie’s but would make it his purpose to come see me at least twice a day. Daniel had a temporary job fixing items for neighbors around town. Most days, he would get up early in the morning and walk down to Dayton to find another, steadier job, after having little luck in finding one in Hadson. Eventually, with the small amount of money he raised, he was able to borrow the materials he needed to build himself a wagon and rent two horses for travel. I prayed daily that Daniel would find that job soon, one that was close by and that paid good money. It worried me to see him gone all day, returning at dusk, just to go help out in some field. For now, that was his job, but it was what he called “slave work,” and he told me he didn’t come all the way to freedom to go back to a field.

“This ain’t no heaven fo’ blacks,” he would constantly tell me, and it seemed he was right. Every once in a while, we’d receive news about trouble in the city—trouble between some free blacks and the whites who lived close by. The only way for blacks to avoid this trouble was to stay out of the way. In my prayers, I asked God to keep my brother out of that kind of mess.

What I wanted in this free land was rather different from what Daniel wanted. I wanted to learn. The desire started as a subtle feeling that would hit me while I did chores in the house, reminding me of my days back on the plantation with the children. While I did chores around the house, I took to praying for the opportunity to go to school. But the community had no black school, and I had no idea how to go about satisfying my growing desire. I continued to practice on my own, however. When Daniel stole time in the evenings to sit and talk with me, and Florence if she chose to be there, I’d practice reading the newspaper and writing, using whatever tools I could find. Every time Daniel rode to Dayton in his wagon, I gave him special requests.

“Would you keep an eye out fo’ any paper and ink that don’t cost too much, and actual books in the city? Get a newspaper, too, so I can find out how many schools there are round here. And find out what the white schools are like, and look for any black schools close by. And …” My questions about the city’s opportunities were endless.

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