"One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world." Malala Yousafzai
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XXXVI.
Alex could not quite believe that he had just witnessed a conversation between his parents. Plural. Never in his wildest dreams would he have ever imagined that he would have both a mother and a father.
He had not known what he had been expecting upon their meeting. Alex, perhaps, had not had an opportunity to imagine what he would expect. His mother had been shocked, and his father had been cordial and courteous. There was a little awkwardness and uncertainty, but his father had complimented his mother immediately on how well their son had grown up.
They spoke for several minutes about their lives in general over the past near three decades, and Alex wondered if their conversation would have deepened had he not been standing with them. But he couldn't will his legs to move. Besides, his mother had asked that he not leave her side.
But the first meeting was done. What would become of them, Alex didn't know. But their conversation concluded with Captain Whitfield asking Amélie if she was accompanying them back to England, to which she replied that she was.
"Let us get off of this island, then," Captain Whitfield murmured in French.
"First," interjected Amélie, finally looking on ahead to their small waiting party. Alex, too, looked up for the first time, and met with Susanna's inquisitive, sympathetic gaze. "I must meet her."
"Susanna," whispered Alex.
"I must say, you managed to find quite the extraordinary young woman," complimented Captain Whitfield.
"I know," replied Alex, knowing completely that he would have to spend his life working to deserver her after what she had done for him. Alex offered his mother his arm, and Amélie took it, before he began to lead her over towards the waiting Susanna. Captain Whitfield followed.
Alex watched as Susanna suddenly knitted her fingers together, before biting down subtly on her bottom lip in a clear act of nervousness. It amused him. But it also deeply moved him that she cared so much to make a good first impression.
Susanna was flanked by her brother, and upon noticing his presence, Alex felt his mother tense. It would have been years since she had laid eyes on a white man, with, of course, the exception of his father. And dressed as he was, Adam Beresford looked every bit the grand blanc that the people of these plantations had once been all too familiar with. His mother, like so many other women, had suffered great humiliation at the hands of the grand and petit blancs.
"It is alright, it is safe," he uttered to her as they approached. Amélie nodded in understanding. "Maman," he said in a louder voice once they were with Susanna. Alex gave Susanna a reassuring smile. "Please allow me to introduce Susanna Beresford. Susanna, this is my mother, Amélie Archambeau."
"I am delighted to meet you, Madame," greeted Susanna in shaky, accented French. She spoke well despite her nerves. "Your son speaks so very highly of you."
"I am honoured to meet you, Susanna," Amélie replied in a tender voice. In hearing Amélie's soft, warm tone, Susanna smiled brightly. Amélie made a noise of pleased astonishment. "You have a smile like the sunshine, beautiful girl."
Alex watched as Susanna thought over Amélie's words for a moment, translating them in her head, before she could smile as warmly as his mother had described.
Susanna's blue eyes fell upon Alex, and she met his gaze of admiration. He knew that it should not surprise him, but her tolerance, her kindness, her respect, affected him greatly. Susanna did not judge colour, but people. She saw people for who they really were, and perhaps for who they could be. Such was the case with him.
"Madame, please allow me to introduce my brother, Adam Beresford," Susanna then introduced after a moment, her French still a little shaky as nerves filled her throat.
Adam's French was clearly not as proficient as his sister's, seeing as his ears only pricked up after hearing his name. "Enchante," he managed to say, bowing his head respectfully, his greeting perhaps the beginning and ending of his knowledge of the French language.
But the bow near floored his mother, as much as it shocked Alex to see. Alex, of course, knew that the duke was a reasonable, decent man. He would not have accompanied his sister on such a voyage otherwise. But he was still a well-bred, rich, titled white man ... and he had just bowed respectfully to a black woman.
Amélie's grip tightened on Alex's arm as she stared at Adam, and Alex watched as an expression of worried apprehension appeared on Adam's face.
"Did I do something to offend her?" Adam asked Alex in English. "Please offer her my most sincere apologies."
"You bowed to her," replied Alex simply. "I can personally guarantee you that no white man has ever showed such a marker of respect to a gens de couleur libres before. Ever."
Alex then saw another expression that he did not think that he had ever seen on the face of a white man before, and that was shame. Adam's face was filled with it.
Alex couldn't quite describe what it felt like to witness something like that. It wasn't justice. No. He did not seek justice from a man who had not wronged him. It felt more like hope, which had indeed been a scarcity in Alex's life. If one man could feel shame for what had happened here, then so could another, and another after that.
One day, Alex willed, things would be very different.
***
They did not spend another night on the plantation.
Amélie gathered the few possessions she had and as a party of six, they began to make the journey back down the mountainous road towards the city of Port-au-Prince, and their way off of the island. Belle was still weak, and could not walk without pain, and so Alex carried her on his back.
Still very underweight, Belle was not at all burdensome to carry.
The rowboat that the captain, Adam and Susanna had travelled to the island in was still on the beach, covered in fallen foliage and driftwood. Together, they pulled the boat down from the beach and into the shallow water before they all climbed on board. Captain Whitfield's ship was waiting for them about a mile offshore, and Alex had never before been more excited to see a merchant ship in his life.
And then they were away, leaving Haiti, and the memories of what was once Saint-Domingue, behind them.
Alex felt something heavy lift from his chest as they sailed through the Caribbean Sea. Perhaps it was because he had never seen the beauty of the Caribbean as a free man before. He might have thought that he was free, but he really wasn't until now. No man controlled his destiny but him anymore, and his choices were his own. It was a responsibility he took very seriously, and he was not about to waste the second chance that he had been gifted.
Naturally, all of his thoughts surrounding the concept of his destiny fell upon Susanna. They were returning to England now. He would need to start thinking about making an honest living. If Alex was to convince Susanna's brother to allow him her hand, then he would need to prove that he could support her. But what could he do when he could not even wield a pen?
Belle was exactly like Alex in that respect. As was his mother. They all had been denied any sort of education. What need did slaves have for books and learning? Illiteracy was rampant.
But Belle had taken to Susanna, and Susanna to Belle. A friendship had formed between to the two girls quite quickly in the few days that they had been at sea. Susanna had taken to rectifying Belle's educational shortcomings herself, and from where Alex was observing, he could see Susanna dipping a paint brush into a cup of water and writing letters and words on the deck. The hot sun dried the water in minutes, but it served its purpose.
Susanna could not read or write French, and so she was teaching Belle how to read, write, and speak English. Considering the fact that Belle was going to be living in England in the immediate future, it probably made more sense for her to be able to read and write English.
Alex knew that if he was to have a hope of finding a way to support Susanna, that he would need to learn as well.
Alex admired Susanna greatly. It was as if he discovered a new reason every day to admire her. But observing her patience with Belle fostered an uncomfortable feeling of inferiority and embarrassment within him. Alex knew that Susanna was aware of his illiteracy, and that fact did not make it any easier.
Though as much as he was embarrassed, he could not allow himself to be prideful, not after what Susanna had gone through to find him. Pride seemed senseless and silly.
Alex approached Susanna and Belle at around midday, when the sun was at its highest and was drying the letters that Susanna was writing very quickly. As he drew closer, he could hear Belle sounding out a word that Susanna had written on the deck.
"C-A-T," read Belle carefully. "Cat?" she asked cautiously. "Le chat?" she clarified.
"Yes!" cried Susanna. "Yes, you got that one right!" Before she added, "Oui vous avez raison."
Belle beamed and she clapped her hands together. It was then that she noticed that Alex had joined them, and her brows knitted together.
"Is everything alright?" Susanna asked him.
"Yes," he replied. "Please, go on. Don't let me disturb you."
"I think we ought to put a stop to the morning lesson now," decided Susanna. "The water is drying too quickly. Can we keep going a little later?" Susanna asked Belle, before realising, and quickly repeating the question in French.
Belle nodded and seemed to understand that Alex had something that he needed to discuss with Susanna. Alex helped Belle to her feet, and she watched him with her curious, golden stare, before she moved away from them slowly.
"Please," urged Susanna, "is something wrong?" she worried.
Alex sat down in front of her, taking the spot that Belle had just vacated. He crossed his legs and extending his hands, capturing hers in his grasp. No pride, he willed. There was no place for pride between two people who hoped to mean the world to the other. Susanna knew. Susanna wouldn't judge. Susanna wouldn't think him foolish. He knew all these things.
And because of this, how he wished he did not feel so stupid as the words bubbled to his lips.
"Will you teach me?"
His voice was practically inaudible. The words barely escaped, and Susanna's brow furrowed.
Susanna somehow removed one of her hands from Alex's grasp and placed it atop the back of his hand in a soothing manner. "I beg your pardon?"
Alex took a deep breath and tried to find his tongue once again. "I don't know how to do this." He nodded down, barely, at the pot of water and the paint brush that Susanna had been using.
Susanna's expression softened as she realised what Alex was alluding to. "I know," she whispered. "It is nothing to be embarrassed about," she promised him.
"Susanna, I want to be able to do this. You deserve someone who can ..."
"What I deserve has nothing to do with books or schooling," Susanna said firmly. "That is irrelevant where we are concerned. But, if you would like to learn, then Alex, I would be so happy to teach you."
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Hope you enjoyed it!!
Whenever I feature illiteracy in a book, I am always reminded of this quote:
"70 out of 100 people in the world cannot read... if you can read then you are the luckiest out of 2 million people in the world that cannot." Call Bain
We are definitely so privileged and I consider it a great responsibility as a teacher to foster a love of learning and literature in my students.
We are on the home stretch!
But it's bedtime. Nigh guys xx
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