Like Oil and Water

The Night Watch

FEW WEEKS AFTER LAST CHAPTER

The big yard was abuzz, all the slaves which belonged to the Williams plantation were gathered there to hear Master Williams big announcement. Most of them already knew what it was since he insisted on making it every year. Mama,Essie, Shiloh and Blanche huddled together under the shade of a small spruce surrounded by the other house slaves as they waited for Master to arrive.

The heat was overwhelming and the smell of hundreds of sweaty bodies hung thick in the air.

"Lord, this heat gon kill me!" Carrie gasped, fanning herself dramatically. The fieldhands nearby looked at her disdainfully and sucked their teeth.

"Y'all aint know nothing bout heat." One of the men muttered, glaring at them.

Before any of them could reply, whispers that Massa had arrived began spreading through the crowd.

Massa Williams came into view, marching authoritatively across the yard. He was flanked on either side by an overseer, each carrying a whip and a gun. Behind them sashayed Miss Lisbeth with Hattie holding a parasol over her head.

Essie immediately began to look for Gabriel but he was no where to be found. He had said nothing to her about leaving the plantation so she found it quite strange.

"I'll make this short, y'all got plenty of work to do." The sound of Massa's voice forced her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see him standing on the back of a wagon with a bullhorn.

"By now everybody here should know what time of the year it is. In two weeks this town will celebrate its founding fathers, whose name I am proud to share...."

It took every ounce of self control not to roll her eyes at Massa Williams boasting about his grandfathers. Besides, if he wanted to speak about ancestors, it was the blood and sweat of her ancestors that had built the empire which he was so proud of.

"All of you should know by now what you are supposed to do and what is expected of you. If any of you dare to fall out of line, there will be severe consequences. Do y'all understand me?"

"Yes massa." His audience droned collectively.

"Don't make me have to make an example out of none of y'all." He warned, making Essie's skin crawl as she remembered what had happened to the last example. "Now go back to your work, I want that crop in early this year."

He waved his hand towards them, shooing them like flies and they began to disperse, the field hands headed back to the cotton, Miss Odile's girls went towards the weaving house, the carpenters and grooms parted off towards the barns and finally the house girls waited until Massa and Miss Lisbeth were escorted away before they could go back to the big house.

"Y'all know what's funny? Carrie chuckled drily as the group crossed the big yard. "They gon work us to the bone and then make us drag our half dead asses out there to dance and sing and prance about out there for them to watch."

"Y'all should know them people just wicked." Nettie muttered. "Ain't nothing new."

Mama, Essie, Shiloh and Blanche headed towards the kitchen while the other girls separated throughout the house. As they passed the stairway that led upstairs, Gabriel flashed into Essie's mind and a feeling of unease settled in her stomach. Maybe it was nothing but his absence gave her a strange feeling that something was wrong.

One thing she knew about master Williams was the fact that that he insisted on showing off his family whenever he had the chance because he believed that if they were together it made them appear stronger.

Pushing it aside she tied her apron around her waist and grabbed a bucket from under the table .

"I'm gonna go scrub the hallway, yall." She announced. "We been meaning to do it for a while now and I think it's best we do it now fore all the confusion starts."