Screaming Cabin

Chapter 6

There wasn’t much work for me to do at the Dawson’s plantation but tend to the horses and Master Buck’s buggy, while the other slaves looked at me with strange eyes and that morning I found a book in the rear of the buggy and master Buck could have not missed it because no one was sent nor did he come out looking for it, I took and look into the book and there were numbers and names of all master Buck’s slave sold and bought I remembered as many as I could by memory, “uppity nigger your maszza be calling on ya sums about a book, you read too uppity nigger,” Bobo says. I runs up to the big house and say to master Buck I was just on my way to bring you this here book master Buck, it was in the floor board of the buggy, as him and Mr. Dawson sit on the front porch. “You mean to tell me Mr. Buck this here nigger of yours can read,” asked Mr. Dawson? “Why by God no nigger slave of mine can read, write are talk that African gibberish and live to tell it, the law don’t allow it and by God I don’t, I must have drop it in the buggy on the trip up,” replied master Buck. Mr. Dawson says, “well I tell you one thing he is one big buck you got any nigger bastards out of the nigger, I tell you I got old nigger gal that I would like for this buck of yours to breed with and I have a big old buck that I was going to let breed with her but I tell you if you’re a betting man Mr. Buck like I know you are let’s pit these two bucks against each other and the winner takes the prize and I’ll see if this nigger can fight as good as he speaks the white mans words; what do you say to that? “Well I don’t know if old Shine here can rumble are not but what the heck get the jugs of whisky and the cigars and let’s have at it later on tonight, now Shine you get back to the barn and Bobo you go help Shine get ready for tonight,” master Buck replies.

Bobo starts to ramble off, “wells uppity nigger Izza tell ya this much that big buck maszza Dawson got here iszza mean old bull he was a runner befoe maszza bought this old nigger, been beat mo times then any niggers I knows of and strong as an ox and he be wanting that old gal some kind of bad, they braded a word runner on that old niggers back after they almost beat him to death he be one tuff old nigger and he called Rum, May be one pretty black nigger gal maszza Dawson been saving her I don’t think no one has had way with her, word is she be his nigger bastard daughter.

I was not going to be fearful of size nor by the beatings of a man I am Mokteer, I was going to fight for pride, so I asked Bobo, “where this Rum be about on the plantation? I have no fear of any man not even the white man. Bobo says, “When the sun sets uppity nigger ya be seeing him,” with a doubtful look on his face.

Time had come I could hear the loud voices of the white men and see the big fire burning through the cracks of the barn, as I walked out I could not see this Rum the smoke was thick and bam a big figurer appeared in the thick of the smoke, a voice came from the smoke, “I kill, I be breeder you breed death” and he appeared from the mist of the smoke charging like a wild bull hitting me and taking me to the ground as I was stunned from the impacted and his brute strength, I gathered my second wind and flipped him over and hammered him three times, he ate my punches like a wild lion of the jungles, then he kicked me very close to the blazing fire and trampled me like a wild gorilla as blood gusted from my mouth and nose and he was still saying, “breeder you death,” I reached over and grad a stick from the blaze and went across Rum’s eyes backing him up and I then ran  with everything I hand in me and the impact knocked him to the ground and he bounced onto his belly and I grad him from behind and wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed until his arm fell limp to the ground, “alright that’s it break it up I don’t want to lose a good nigger now let him go nigger it’s over,” Mr. Dawson said.

I could hear all the white men cheering, I was only fighting for pride and they were cheering for me to kill another man with skin of my color there was no pride in that for me while Bobo help me to the barn, I was beat Rum was a very strong man I wouldn’t want to have to go another round with him no time soon. “Bobo you tend to Mr. Buck’s nigger and get that buck cleaned up by tomorrow evening, nigger I tell you by God you fight just as well as you talk like a white man dam it, you won the prize old nigger gal May a sweet’ in boy now you put a nigger bastards in that gal for master Dawson you hear,” he said laughing. I only could nod my head to him, he knew old Rum put some hell ’a licks on me. “Don’t worry uppity nigger Bobo take good care of ya, boy you put an old butt wiping on that mean old bull you sure did,” Bobo said laughing and those where the last things I heard as I passed out.

“Wake up, wake up,” with slaps to my face, “uppity nigger time to rise,” Bobo shouts, man you be looking like a bull hit you, laughing, Maszza got that gal ready for you to have way with make nigger bastard, she so is a pretty black gal to have way with, I a wishing I be you rights bout na uppity nigger.”

I opened my right eye wide open and then opened my left eye as far as I could and that wasn’t much at all, I got up like and old man bent over in the tobacco field from early morning to late night and Rum had been the overseer the other night, I really didn’t feel like I won the fight.

“Come on na let be getting ya on downs to that gal,” Bobo says with a big smile on his face as if he was going to have his way with May.