Be Strong Be Strong “Be strong Eliza, so we can be sold together,” my Mama told me. “Yes, Mama,” I replied. I was scared, very ‘fraid. I didn’t like standin’ on that big wooden box bein’ poked and touched by those strange people. They asked me and Mama questions and we lied ‘cause we wants to be sold together. I hope God will forgive us and let’s us be sold together! Please please God! “SOLD!” echoed in my head. I’m glad I got to stay with my Mama. A white man, here for our new Mistress Sarah Ann, bought us for her. We stayed by ourselves the rest of the day. My shoulder-length hair got hot. My black hair gets hot from the sun. I like bein’ skinny, but havin’ muscles like Mama. That’s why we got sold together. We got muscles and look strong. Finally, Miss Sarah Ann’s white men were gathrin’ all us new slaves together. Now we were on our way to Fort Valley, Georgia to work on them cotton plantations. “I’m glad I ain’t a man” I says to Mama. “Why?” Mama asked with a funny look on her dark face. “’Cause I don’t wanna walk chained to other men like them behind us is.” I said, turning around to look out of the back of the old wooden, rusty wagon. The dusty road seemed endless as we were slowly pulled ‘long. The men were covered in the light brown dust. My dirt filled eyes made it hard to see. Little by little we made our journey all the way from South Carolina to Georgia. When we reached the plantation, we started walkin’ by the side of the cotton fields. I seen a boy who was ‘bout the same age as me, thirteen. He stopped pickin’ to look at the new slaves coming in. He looked at me, smiled, and waved. I did the same to him. Mama saw him and smiled too. Just as I turned my head, I heard someone yell and something that sounded just horrible! I whirled ‘round to see that the boy was bein’ beaten with a whip on his bare back by a white man. The boy fell to the ground as the man yelled “GET UP YOU FOOL!”. He slowly got up and started pickin’ the cotton again. All the sudden, Mama pulled my arm and we stopped walkin’. The white man showed us a small tattered wooden cabin. He said “This is your slave house. You are Maryanne?” “Yes” my Mama replied. We walked into the house that smelled faintly of smoke. I walked inside, my bare feet on the hardwood floor. Then I saw a fireplace with a cookin’ pot over it. The white man gave me a pair of shoes and some rags. “These are your clothes, those two bales of hay are for you to make your beds. Is there anything else?” “No, thank you” Mama said. The white man left me and Mama there. As soon as we had made our beds, another white man came in. He told us Mama would be working in the spin house for now. I would take the clothes she mad e to the dye shop. They were near each other, but far away from the big house where Miss Sarah Ann lives. I had that job until I was fifteen. That was two years ago. Now me and Mama worked in the field. I met a new friend named David. He was the boy who was whipped right in front of my eyes. He’s real nice and I work near him in the field. Mama and me work ‘longside Uncle Charlie. He really ain’t my Uncle but I call him that anyway. Uncle Charlie is the one who holds runaway meetin’s in the night. He also holds a private church service. He taught David how to read and write, in secret when he was young. Next week Mama and I are to runaway at midnight. We are going to take David with us ‘cause he’s an orphan. Our first stop is at a forest tree in Tennessee where we’re gonna meet a woman named Harriet Tubman. Uncle Charlie would get us that far. Mama and me worked in the fields ‘til our day arrived. The work was hard, but I was ready to get away. We sang songs and said our prayers. The sun was hot on our black skin. I missed our old job. My back hurts so very bad. I stood up to stretch and smiled at David. Out of nowhere a white man was hittin’ me with a whip! Ht stung like I was being cut with a thousand knives on my back. I wanted to cry, but not in front of David. Mama got whipped once too for not pickin’ her cotton. Just like me. Our glory day arrived, and never seemed to end. When midnight finally came, Mama and I met David and Uncle Charlie. The journey began quickly as we was led in prayer by Uncle Charlie. “Dear Lord, You are the one an’ only guidin’ light. Help us to make it to our destination. Help these here people to have the strength to get to freedom. Keep Your blessin’ hand upon us.” “Amen,” we all said together. It was all so peaceful. The fireflies flickered in the midnight sky. There was no moons we could not easily. “The North Star will be our guide. Whenever you are lost, follow that star.” Uncle Charlie whispered in my ear as I saw that star twinkle in his dark eyes. Mama’s faced looked as smooth as ever. Her dark hair shined in the starlight down to her ragged clothes. I am glad I have hair like Mama’s. “Let’s go,” David’s sweet deep voice made my knees quiver so bad that I had to grab his hand to keep on my feet. He grabbed my hand and smiled as though nothing in the world mattered. Mama put her hand on my shoulder and we started into the forest with our bundle of very little food wrapped in our clothes. We ran through the forest so we could get a s far away as we could ‘fore morning. As soon as the sun rose, we stopped and rested in a cave. I slept on Mama’s lap, David on my shoulder and Uncle Charlie didn’t rest but kept watch. Tomorrow night we’d go to Tennessee. As soon as the sun had gone down, we was runnin’ again. I watched the North Star twinkle in the distance. It was my hope my guidin’ light ‘cause I think God was leadin’ me with that star. My legs were so sore I could hardly keep moving, but I wanted to get away. I stumbled many times and had scrapes all over me. As day came we hid in the trees Miss Harriet was to meet us the next night. I slowly fell asleep listenin’ to the wind rustle the big yellow and read leaves ‘bove my head. It felt so good to sleep. I woke up hearin’ Mama scream. It sounded like a child being whipped for the first time. I watched my Mama bein drug off by two white men. I didn’t like these men. They were patrollers; people who came to look for us slaves so they could get money. I had to keep quiet so the rest of us would not be caught. “She’s the only one worth anything and she’s probably alone,” the first man said as my Mama screamed and struggled and I cried. I cried and wanted to die but this wasn’t even the worst. As they beat Mama with a wood stick, I tightened my muscles with each blow. I cried. I prayed. Then I smiled as I watched my Mama break free and run! She’s free! She’s free! The next thing I heard, as my Mama ran, was a gunshot and my Mama fell. The men ran as they had realized what they had done. They ran like scared chickens. I ran to my Mama. “They shot my Mama!!” I screamed over and over again in my head! Mama was shot in the back and bleedin’ bad. I kissed her rosy red cheek and cried “I love you, Mama” I whispered it over and over in her ear. “Eliza, I love y’all too. You go on and find Ms. Harriet. Don’t stop. You must escape. Do it for me, Eliza. Be strong.” she whispered as her eyes rolled back into her head. My Mama…………had died. I cried by her side until night fell. David made her a gravestone by carvin’ in the tree, but wouldn’t tell me what it said, ‘cause I can’t read. We laid Mama under the weeping willow tree that she died under. Uncle Charlie said to me, “We gotta keep goin, Eliza.” So we ran and ran until we heard a whistle. “That s Miss Harriet, ya’ll be safe now. Run over there ‘hind them rocks. I’ll stay ‘ere till ya get there. Good luck! Be strong!” Uncle Charlie said. David and I made our way to the pile of rocks and were kindly greeted by Miss Harriet Tubman. I knowed about Miss Harriet ‘cause she was a slave like me. I knowed she got people to freedom lots of times. Uncle Charlie told us not to try and turn ‘round and come home ‘cause she’d pull a gun on us! “You ready?” she says as her big brown eyes look into mine. “Yes I think we ready.” “I thought there’d be three of y’all” Miss Harriet said. “My Mama was shot yesterday.” I said crying again. “I’m very sorry to hear that. Did your Mama tell you to go on?” Miss Harriet said looking at me again “Yes” I replied “Then let’s go” Miss Harriet said picking up her pace. The next few weeks were all a blur. We made a few stops on our way to freedom to get food and clothing. I never knew white people could really care about us. They organized an underground railroad to get us slaves to Canada so we could have freedom. We stopped at Levi Coffin’s house and he took care of David, who hurt his leg runnin’. Mr. Coffin told us we be in Indiana! He say we done run all the way through Kentucky without stoppin’! Since David was hurt, Mr. Coffin took me, Miss Harriet and David in a wagon and he covered us with hay and grain. He drove all day, all night and all the next day. He stopped at night and let us stretch and eat a lil’ bit. He had taken us to some place called Princeton, Illinois where we met Owen Lovejoy. He gave us food and water which we desperately needed after bein’ covered in hay all day. I dearly missed Mama. David hugged me as I cried at night. We prayed with Miss Harriet who was someone I think was like a Mama to me. She cared ‘bout me and David. “I’ll get you to freedom if it’s the last thing I do,” she told us lots. We ran again the next day. Miss Harriet says we only has one more stop and then we will be free! I couldn’t wait so I run harder and faster and faster. I was so tired and I couldn’t feel my legs I runned so hard. I had to get there I had to make it for Mama! ‘Fore I knowed it we was already at our last stop it only took us four nights to run here. We were hidden in an underground tunnel. Our only light was an oil lamp that flickered on and off. I slept for a whole day. I hadn’t slept none since Mama was taken from me. When I woke up, there was food in front of me and Miss Harriet and David told me to eat fast ‘cause we gotta get to freedom! We put the extra food in our small bundle of clothes. Miss Harriet prayed for me, David, and Mama. And we was runnin’ once again. I runned even faster today, faster then ever ‘fore. I had to get free! I wanted to more then ever make it for Mama! When we stopped for the day, I slept again. As soon as night fell, Miss Harriet made us all hold hands. I didn’t know why but I did it ‘cause she said so. We walked for several long hours never lettin’ our hands go. When the sun was peakin’ over the distance Miss Harriet stopped and whispered, “Leave all your mem’ries here.” “Why?” David said faintly. She replied with tears in her eyes, “”Cause you free now, we made it to Canada.” She then hugged me and I cried in her arms. “You’re Mama is free, Eliza. Her spirit lives in your heart.” “I know,” I said, “I can feel her here.” She let go then hugged me again and told me she must save other families and that she would never forget us. “Thank you so much” I said through my tears. She said nothing else. She hugged David as he told her good-bye. Then she simply ran into the woods as the sun seemed to slowly follow her. David and me sat there holdin’ each others hand as the sun rose gracefully. David says to me, “Eliza, I love you and I wanna get married as soon as I find a jov.” “I love you too David and ‘course I’ll marry you.” We then shared hugs and kisses, as the sun rose slowly in the distance. As I l looked into his eyes, a question came to me, “David, what did you etch in the tree where we laid Mama?” He replied simply, “Be strong.”
Copyright © 2005 Jill Johnson |