Beyond the Cotton Fields

Chapter 2

With a satisfying helping of rice in her stomach, Lucy exited her shack with her basket on her back and walked into the fields of wispy white fibers. Unlike the other slaves, who were groaning about the laborous day ahead, Lucy was actually excited about it. The way she saw it, this was going to be her last day of enslavement. After tonight, she'd be on her way to salvation. Tonight, when everyone, white and negro alike, was nestled into the beds, whether the mattresses be stuffed with cotton or hay, Lucy would be walking through the states. She would be walking across state lines, until she stepped over that one state line that made her a free slave. She would finally be able to start a new life, a better one; one where she wasn't property, but a human being.

She walked along the rows of cotton, placing handful after handful into the basket. She silently hummed a spiritual to herself, making sure no one else heard her. If they did, they'd know she was going to escape tonight, and then her whole plan would be ruined. As the day progressed, a few slaves began talking quietly to each other, so the master wouldn't hear them in case he rode over.

"Mason come back from town wit' da Massah an' said dat the white folk were lookin' fa some mo' niggas. He done said dat dey left dey massah's land in de middle o' da night an' ain't been seen since." An aging elderly man said to another aging man.

"Some niggas ain't gon' be happy 'til the white mens hang 'em from a branch or put dey heads on a stick." The other replied.

"Ain't dat da truf. Niggas ain't got no mind be out o' da fields. We's got food an' homes. Niggas wanna go messin' dat up."

"Well, it's dey hides dat be gettin' skinned straight off dey asses. Not mines. As long as my feet on da groun' an' not danglin' in da air, I's fine right here."

Lucy tuned out the old troglodytes and their conversation and went on with her work. When the sun began setting, she tried to suppress the smile that was threatening to break through. She didn't want anyone to become suspicious. She lined up behind the other workers, dumped the basket of cotton into the wheel barrel, and proceeded towards her shack. She lit a fire and put the pot over it, filling it with water and collard greens. After letting the leafy greens simmer in the pot for a few minutes, she began to ate her last "nigger meal". 

When the pot was clean, she blew out her oil lamp and waited. Once the last lamp had been blown out for an hour, Lucy grabbed her knapsack and crept out of what used to be her shack. She took one last look at it, tiptoed out into the cotton fields, and dropped down to her hands and knees. She proceeded to crawl through the field to remain unseen. It didn't matter that her tattered dress and headscarf kept getting snagged on the cotton stems, that dirt began to lodge itself under her fingernails, that her right arm hurt from bearing the weight of her body as she crawled on that one hand as her left hand clutched her sack to her chest, that her knees and hands were getting scraped and started bleeding whenever rocks came into her path, or that grasshoppers and other insects kept flying into her face. It was all worth it to Lucy as long as she got into the woods and never had turn back to that damned plantation. 

After what seemed like an eternity, she emerged from the fields, stood up, and ran into the forest. She didn't bother to waste extra time by straightening out her clothes and dusting herself off. That would only slow her down and risk her life. She continued to run with her sack under her left arm, until she was sure she was far from the fields and the manor. She stopped to caught her breath, not having expected to run for so long. When she was sure she was safe, she took a minute to fix her dress and head scarf, making sure it was still wrapped securely and covered her kinky hair. She clutched her knapsack close to her chest and began walking.

Twigs snapped under Lucy's feet and tiny woodland creatures scurried across the forest floor. The adrenaline rush of having escaped was only intensified by the fear that came with knowing she could possibly be killed out here. If the forces of nature and wild animals didn't get her first, then surely the white men who stalk around these woods in search for runaway niggers would. She had never stepped off of the plantation; she had barely reached the edge of the plantation. Even when she was a young child, she never wandered too far from her mother or older brothers. She always clung onto her mother's dress, because in her young mind, that was the safest place for her. But, when she was 8, her mother passed away. Then, 2 years later, at the age of 10, she was taken away from her brothers, Cato and Caesar, and sold to Master Aberling. Although she has been on her own for the past 7 years, she had never felt more alone than she did in the Aberling plantation. Being on her own in the dark woods didn't make her feel nearly as lone. At least in the woods, she could take a deep breath of fresh air without inhaling cotton fibers and relish in the fact that her sole watcher now was God almighty. Not God and Master Aberling

Soon, the adrenaline wore off and all that was left in her system was pure, concentrated fear. Every little sound that hit her ear drums caused her to jump and turn her head in the direction of the sound. Her heart was practically bursting through her chest and she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to go on without falling to the ground with a heart attack. Now, she had to worry about the fear doing her in, along with the threat of killer animals and white men.

Suddenly, she heard a subtle 'woosh' in the air and fell to the ground with a shriek, finding herself unable to raise herself from the dirt. Much to her relief, it wasn't because she was having a heart attack. Rather, it was a sharp pain in her leg that brought her down. She bit her lip in an effort to keep from screaming in pain too loudly, unsure of how far away she truly was from the plantation. The horrific sensation in her upper right thigh was made worse by her inability to breathe through her lip-biting screams and sobs. That's one more thing to add to her list of things that'll kill her out her in the woods: horrendous pain caused by unknown sources. It seemed as though that list grew longer with each passing minute.

Lucy was unaware of what caused her and her leg so much agony, but she was aware that she wanted the pain to subside. She felt around on her clothed right thigh, feeling something long and narrow sticking out of her leg. She grabbed it and tried to pull it out, only to be greeted with more pain when whatever she pulled tugged her punctured skin and muscle. At this point, Lucy would've welcomed a heart attack with loving arms. In the midst of her screaming and crying through her clenched teeth, Lucy was able to hear footsteps coming near her. Ignoring the pain, she tried to get up and run away, only to be brought back down by the pain in her leg when she put weight on it. The footsteps came closer to her, until a dark figure appeared in front of her. Lucy didn't have enough time to try and make out the figure before she passed out from an almost lethal combination of fear and pain.