Read Online The Black Rose by Tananarive Due - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tananarive Due
Tags: Biographical fiction, Fiction, Literary, Historical fiction, Historical, Biography & Autobiography, Cultural Heritage, Cosmetics Industry, African American Women Authors, African American Women Executives, Walker, C. J, African American Authors, Businesswomen, African American women
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and its fickle course. She was so full of joy, she thought she might faint.
Alex’s buoyant face deflated. “ ’Til I got a good job, don’t make no sense me tryin’ to feed y’all,” he said. “Shoot, I may need to come back. We can’t be givin’ up this house.”
At first the disappointment threatened to drown Sarah—even small disappointments still drove her to tears much more often now than when her parents had been living, since she couldn’t help thinking that any setback might not have happened if Mama and Papa had been there—but she swallowed back the bitter taste in her throat and clung to her brother’s sleeve. He had grown so much taller, he was probably taller than Papa by now. “But you gon’ send after us when you gots a good job? You promise, Alex?”
“I’ma do my best, Li’l Bit,” Alex said, but it didn’t gladden her to hear her brother call her by her favorite pet name because he did it so rarely, and only when he was trying to convince her not to argue with him. Even when he did make promises, he couldn’t always be held to them. He’d promised them new shoes last spring, and they were still waiting for their shoes in the fall. Sarah’s shoes pinched her growing toes so badly that she usually went without them, preferring to chafe her bare soles on rocks and soil.
“Don’t be callin’ her Li’l Bit,” Louvenia said to Alex, annoyed. “She ain’t little no mo’. ’Sides, that’s Papa’s name. An’ you ain’t Papa, cuz Papa woulda took us all.”
At that, Alex looked hurt. Quickly he swiped at his brow and turned his eyes away. “If Papa woulda took us, wouldn’t none of us be here now, would we?” His voice was low, but the words were like a gunshot.
Louvenia snorted, humph , sounding like Mama. “Sound like you think you a man jus’ cuz you big like one,” she said. “If you goin’, then git. You ain’t gon’ stand here in Papa’s house talkin’ bad ’bout him.”
“I didn’ mean nothin’ by that, Lou… . When you gots young’uns an’ such, you gotta be where you know you gots work, even if it ain’t much. But I got a chance to look roun’ an’ see what else a colored man kin make o’ hisself, not jus’ haulin’ an’ pickin’. I might even go out to them Dakota lands an’ find me some gold like the white folks, since them Injuns that kilt that Gen’ral Custer done give up. Folks gittin’ rich out there! Papa couldn’t do that, see? I promise I’ll send y’all money through Missus Anna,” Alex said. “Now … do I git a hug good-bye?”
Louvenia cast him an evil look, then she walked to him to give him a weak hug. Many times Louvenia had complained to Sarah that Alex had so much more freedom than she did because he was a man. Men didn’t have to be careful and stick close to home the same way women did, she said. Louvenia’s envy was naked in her jutting lower lip as she hugged her brother good-bye, and Sarah could guess what her sister was thinking: Maybe a colored man can make something of himself, but what about a colored girl?
Sarah hugged her brother tightly, even though tears gleamed in her eyes. To her, Alex smelled like the river, sweat, and the promise of a new life far away, hidden from her. In all the time since their parents had died, Sarah was no closer to fulfilling her promise to Mama to learn how to read. She hadn’t had time to learn even a single new letter of the alphabet; and even if she had the time, where would she learn it? She didn’t know any colored children who went to school. But maybe if she went out west …
“You promise, Alex? You gon’ send fo’ us?” Sarah said.
“Promise,” Sarah’s brother said, and Sarah closed her eyes. Sarah gave Alex a long, hard squeeze, remembering how she’d hugged Papa on the porch the day Mama died. Already she’d forgotten what Papa had smelled like that day, and she hadn’t wanted to forget a single thing.
As infrequent as Alex’s visits had
Alex’s buoyant face deflated. “ ’Til I got a good job, don’t make no sense me tryin’ to feed y’all,” he said. “Shoot, I may need to come back. We can’t be givin’ up this house.”
At first the disappointment threatened to drown Sarah—even small disappointments still drove her to tears much more often now than when her parents had been living, since she couldn’t help thinking that any setback might not have happened if Mama and Papa had been there—but she swallowed back the bitter taste in her throat and clung to her brother’s sleeve. He had grown so much taller, he was probably taller than Papa by now. “But you gon’ send after us when you gots a good job? You promise, Alex?”
“I’ma do my best, Li’l Bit,” Alex said, but it didn’t gladden her to hear her brother call her by her favorite pet name because he did it so rarely, and only when he was trying to convince her not to argue with him. Even when he did make promises, he couldn’t always be held to them. He’d promised them new shoes last spring, and they were still waiting for their shoes in the fall. Sarah’s shoes pinched her growing toes so badly that she usually went without them, preferring to chafe her bare soles on rocks and soil.
“Don’t be callin’ her Li’l Bit,” Louvenia said to Alex, annoyed. “She ain’t little no mo’. ’Sides, that’s Papa’s name. An’ you ain’t Papa, cuz Papa woulda took us all.”
At that, Alex looked hurt. Quickly he swiped at his brow and turned his eyes away. “If Papa woulda took us, wouldn’t none of us be here now, would we?” His voice was low, but the words were like a gunshot.
Louvenia snorted, humph , sounding like Mama. “Sound like you think you a man jus’ cuz you big like one,” she said. “If you goin’, then git. You ain’t gon’ stand here in Papa’s house talkin’ bad ’bout him.”
“I didn’ mean nothin’ by that, Lou… . When you gots young’uns an’ such, you gotta be where you know you gots work, even if it ain’t much. But I got a chance to look roun’ an’ see what else a colored man kin make o’ hisself, not jus’ haulin’ an’ pickin’. I might even go out to them Dakota lands an’ find me some gold like the white folks, since them Injuns that kilt that Gen’ral Custer done give up. Folks gittin’ rich out there! Papa couldn’t do that, see? I promise I’ll send y’all money through Missus Anna,” Alex said. “Now … do I git a hug good-bye?”
Louvenia cast him an evil look, then she walked to him to give him a weak hug. Many times Louvenia had complained to Sarah that Alex had so much more freedom than she did because he was a man. Men didn’t have to be careful and stick close to home the same way women did, she said. Louvenia’s envy was naked in her jutting lower lip as she hugged her brother good-bye, and Sarah could guess what her sister was thinking: Maybe a colored man can make something of himself, but what about a colored girl?
Sarah hugged her brother tightly, even though tears gleamed in her eyes. To her, Alex smelled like the river, sweat, and the promise of a new life far away, hidden from her. In all the time since their parents had died, Sarah was no closer to fulfilling her promise to Mama to learn how to read. She hadn’t had time to learn even a single new letter of the alphabet; and even if she had the time, where would she learn it? She didn’t know any colored children who went to school. But maybe if she went out west …
“You promise, Alex? You gon’ send fo’ us?” Sarah said.
“Promise,” Sarah’s brother said, and Sarah closed her eyes. Sarah gave Alex a long, hard squeeze, remembering how she’d hugged Papa on the porch the day Mama died. Already she’d forgotten what Papa had smelled like that day, and she hadn’t wanted to forget a single thing.
As infrequent as Alex’s visits had
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