The Cost of Sugar

by Cynthia McLeod

But papa answered immediately, “No, my dearest. You know I’d like to grant you everything in the world, but Ashana isn’t leaving.” Elza had asked nothing more. She had tried her best, but she had known in advance that papa would never let Ashana go. Ashana was after all the only link he still kept with his late darling Elizabeth. Both he and Ashana had seen Elizabeth die and it was Ashana who looked after papa and did everything for him: keeping an eye on his food and his clothes, massaging his back when he returned weary from a long day in the tent boat or a journey on horseback. She knew precisely how he wanted his bath-water, how the pillows on his bed should be arranged. In short, Ashana cared for her masra as nobody else ever could.

  No, Elza could take Amimba. She was in principle a slave-woman for the fields, but she was in fact too weak for that work, but still young. Under Maisa’s gentle instruction she could certainly become a good house-slave. Ta Dani was an elderly slave who worked in the timber store. He had come from Africa as a salt-water negro26 and was at Hébron even before Levi had married Elizabeth. He was now old and infirm and could not really be used for the plantation, but he could do minor repair work for Elza and keep an eye on the grounds.

  Rutger’s Alex was there too, of course, and Rutger had furthermore bought a strong, young slave named Kwasi, a Karboeger-negro27, and when Rutger had said that he was still looking for a cook, Kwasi had asked his new boss to buy his wife, Lena, also a Karboeger, who could cook really well.

  So now Elza was living in her new house with her husband and six slaves. Maisa slept in the house, in a small room behind the pantry, and the other five slaves slept in the accommodation in the grounds.

  Since Rutger was away at the office during the day, Elza had naturally very little to do. Maisa ensured that the household ran smoothly. So Elza would go and visit former classmates from the French school, the majority of whom were now also married, some already having a child. Or she went to visit Mrs van Omhoog, or received visitors herself. But most of all she went to visit Esther de Ledesma. In that house, where she herself had lived for two years as a girl, she always felt at ease. Although – it was a very different household from when she and Sarith had lived there some years earlier. The twins, now four years old, terrorized everyone with their roguish antics, and their little brother, Ezau, now just one year old, tended to be almost forgotten amongst all the fuss surrounding Masra Sammy and Masra Jossy.

  Ezau was a pleasant little boy, playing sweetly in his bed for hours on end, or sitting on the nursery floor, playing happily with a rag doll or some toy bricks. Elza had a real soft spot for him, and always made a point of busying herself with the little, forgotten Ezau whenever she was visiting.

  On 21 October the population of Suriname experienced a heavy earthquake. The citizens of Paramaribo heard around five in the morning a loud underground rumbling that was followed by a number of violent shocks, lasting about five minutes in total. Elza and Rutger were lying in bed and were both woken by the rumbling. But before they could say a word about the rumble and what it might be, the whole house began to shudder and sway. Elza stammered, “It’s an earthquake.”

  Rutger took one leap out of bed, dragged Elza over the edge of the bed and threw himself on the floor, pulling Elza with him. A second later they both lay under the heavy mahogany four-poster. “Oh Rutger, what on earth is happening?”

  Teeth chattering, she was holding onto him tightly. “Why must we stay under the bed?”

  “This is the safest place to be,” answered Rutger. Then Maisa was at the top of the stairs, shouting, “Oh my God, Misi Elza, what is going on?”28

  Elza called, “Here Maisa, under the bed.”

  And then Maisa bent down and Rutger pulled her under the bed with them. The three of them lay there while the house shuddered and creaked and now and then even swung to and fro. Doors and windows banged open and closed, and outside in the well and the rainwater butt the water splashed around. They heard the slaves shouting and screaming. Maisa had only moaned and whined, eyes tightly closed, expecting at any moment to have the house coming down on her head.

  When, after about ten minutes, everything seemed to be over and the last rumbling receded into in the distance, the three went cautiously downstairs. There they found the other slaves in a state of panic. Amimba was weeping loudly and crying that she wanted to go to her mother. Maisa had to give her a thorough shaking to calm her down. Alex was talking nineteen to the dozen in his agitation. He knew all about it, it was an earthquake, he could explain exactly how it had come about. But Maisa said sharply that he could shut up or people would come to believe that the whole earthquake was of his making.

  In the meantime it was light and the streets had filled with people. Everyone wanted to recount his or her experiences, his or her fears. Many were convinced that the world was ending and the slaves knew for certain that their ancestors’ spirits had finally risen to seek revenge and to have justice done at last. Just wait: the whites would pay at long last for all the atrocities they had wreaked on the negroes.

  For days and indeed weeks on end there was no other topic of conversation, especially since further heavy shocks were felt in the night of 25 October.

  There were fortunately no personal accidents or injuries. The only exception was a Mister Daniel Forques, a civil servant, who had sprung out of a first-floor window in panic and had landed on his head. He lost consciousness for several hours, and when he eventually came round he was convinced that he was in heaven, but found that heaven looked amazingly like his own house.

  The incident that attracted most attention, however, was the fact that His Excellency the Governor and Mrs Crommelin had fled barefoot and in their night-attire out of the palace and onto the street. Governor Crommelin had not the slightest problem admitting that this was indeed the case. He and his wife had been terrified. When they had felt the tremors, had heard cracking sounds and had seen a huge crack open in the wall, they could not get their old, fat bodies fast enough down the stairs and out of the building, so certain they were that the whole palace was on the point of coming down about their ears. For the first few days nothing could persuade them to return to the palace, and slaves had to fetch their clothes and other necessities while they themselves stayed two doors further along in Mr Jean Nepveu’s large mansion.

  The governor was so thankful that he and all Surinamers had survived, that 29 October was declared a day of general thanksgiving and prayer.

  ELZA

  There suddenly came a big surprise in the first week of December. One afternoon, Papa, Aunt Rachel and Sarith stood at the door. They got the warmest of welcomes from Elza, who, in her new role of hostess, urged Maisa to prepare food and drink for everyone. How was everybody, how were things on the plantation, how was Ashana? Papa and Aunt Rachel smiled. Everything was fine. How were things with Elza and with Rutger? The family had arrived a few hours earlier and, having freshened up and rested in the Saramaccastraat, had come straight to Elza. Would they not stay here with her, Elza had asked. No, Papa and Aunt Rachel were lodging as always with Esther and Jacob; they had their own room there. But if Sarith wished to stay … Elza was overjoyed: of course Sarith must stay here. They could send Sarith’s luggage on later. But everyone would stay until Rutger had arrived. He had a business meeting and would be home in about an hour. Rutger, too, was surprised to see his in-laws. And of course Sarith must stay here. It would be so pleasant for Elza when he was away during the day.

  In the days that followed, Elza and Sarith indeed had much to tell each other. About the earthquake, about Sarith’s latest admirers. Did Elza remember the Jewish teacher who was with them at the wedding, Abraham Cohen? He was also present at Joden-Savanna for the recent Feast of Tabernacles. He was a little shy, but Sarith had clearly seen that she had made a considerable impression on him. Did Elza know that the slaves had not worked for a whole week after the earthquake? They were terrified that if they were working in the fields a huge crack would open up and swallow them. Uncle Levi had
not forced them to work, even though overseer Mekers would have had it differently. But on many other plantations where the slaves also were scared, they had been whipped back to work. What kinds of things did Elza do all day? Did she and Rutger go out a lot? Just like old times the two had again chatted and laughed together, and Rutger had often looked on amusedly and listened to the merry chatter. He was the complete host, so attentive to both Elza and Sarith.

  As always, there were in December and January many feasts and parties, and several times each week the three of them walked off somewhere to a feast or a sociable evening out, always preceded by Alex with a lamp in his hand.

  A few weeks later – it was early February – Elza sat one morning in the dining room near the window. Amimba was busy rubbing the floor and wall with bitter oranges, cut in half.29 That happened once a week in all houses. The floors then remained nice and shiny, it was a tried and tested remedy against pests, and there was always a fresh ambience in the house.

  Elza looked towards Amimba without really seeing her, for she was deep in thought. She had every reason to be. Something had gradually changed. At first she had thought that it was just an idea of hers, but now it was so patently obvious that with the best will in the world she could not pass it off as a delusion. Rutger and Sarith were getting involved. Oh, Elza had seen it coming. The attentions that were first directed towards both her and Sarith, but of late more towards Sarith. The way he sometimes took Sarith’s hand or arm if they had to step up or down along the road. And she, Elza, then walked behind and seemed to have been forgotten. And Sarith, no longer at parties the butterfly flitting from one man to the other, but staying constantly in their company. At first Rutger had always danced with both of them, but recently he had been dancing much more frequently with Sarith, and she had sat there ignored, or to be eventually invited by some other man to dance.

  And now Sarith was suddenly interested in serious conversations. She, who previously had not concerned herself with anything outside her immediate field of vision, was suddenly interested in all kinds of things and even wanted to read in order to be able to converse with Rutger. On the evenings when they weren’t going out, the three of them would sit for hours in the front room talking. It was often getting late and then Rutger would say, “Elza, if you want to go to bed, do go, and I’ll be along shortly,” and she had understood that he wanted to be alone with Sarith. Without speaking another word she would get up and go upstairs. When Maisa had undressed her and had helped her into bed it had sometimes been more than an hour before Rutger had joined her.

  Yesterday evening had been such an occasion. Rutger had said that she should go upstairs, but after Maisa had gone to her own room, Elza had got up quietly and had gone downstairs again; very carefully, so that no tread would creak. On the rear veranda where a lamp shed light up to the staircase she had seen Mini-mini sleeping on the ground. That poor child, Elza had thought, for of course Mini-mini had to remain up all that time in order to help her mistress undress before she herself could go to her room in the grounds.

  Elza had crept on tiptoe to the back room which Rutger had furnished as his office and where a writing bureau and his bookshelves stood. Without making a sound she had leaned forward and had looked through the keyhole of the door between the front room and this back room. And she had seen what she already had suspected. In the clear light of the large crystal chandelier she had seen how Sarith sat on the arm of Rutger’s chair and stroked his hair. He had looked up and there followed a long, loving kiss. Oh, appalling! Elza had left, running up the stairs, now not worrying whether a step creaked or not. Tears streaming over her cheeks, she had lain on the bed and had pretended to be asleep, her back turned towards Rutger as he came to lie next to her half an hour later.

  How could Sarith do such a thing? Sarith, of all people! How could Rutger do such a thing? What was happening? She must and she would talk about this with Rutger. But how? There was hardly a moment when she was alone with him. She could not talk alone with Sarith, either, for she had noticed for quite a time now that Sarith always saw to it that she wasn’t alone with Elza. In the morning she slept on, and Mini-mini often had to bring her breakfast in her room. When, and when, around ten o’clock, she was dressed and ready, she would go out – Elza often not knowing where to – and she would always come back late when it was time for lunch and Rutger himself was just home or would be coming home. After lunch everyone went to rest, and Rutger always fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, to wake again at half past three, in time to take his bath and so be fresh and alert at the office with Mr van Omhoog at four.

  She must talk with Rutger about this, but didn’t know how. But there must be some way for a wife to talk with her own husband.

  That Sarith! Why couldn’t something happen to make her clear off back to the Hébron Plantation or somewhere else. Elza actually did think that there was someone else in the house who knew precisely what was going on: this was Maisa. She had noticed the way Maisa sometimes shook her head as Sarith entered the room, or the way Maisa looked at Sarith when she was excitedly recounting something. If only she could talk with Maisa about this. She wanted so much to be able to fling her arms around Maisa, weep copiously on her shoulder and feel the dear, comforting hand over her head that she had so often felt as a child, when she had gone to Maisa or Ashana with all her sorrows. But now she was a lady, and had to behave with propriety. And above all, how would she talk about such a difficult subject? She knew, too, that Maisa would never initiate a conversation about this. Some things were the subject of an unwritten code, and a slave would never begin to talk about a delicate matter, even if she had breast-fed her mistress and had cared for her as a mother from birth onwards.

  Elza sighed, then heard a commotion and voices at the front door and the excited voice of Amimba, who had opened the door, and there in the dining room stood her father.

  “Oh papa,” Elza threw her arms round his neck, “Dear papa,” and, feeling the tears welling in her eyes, said to herself, “Don’t cry: he mustn’t notice anything.” To avoid his seeing her face she went quickly to the rear veranda, where she dried her tears and called, “Maisa, Maisa, come now, papa is here.”

  Maisa, too, was happy to see the masra. How was everyone, how was Ashana? And papa told them that Ashana missed them both a lot and complained daily that the house was so dull now all the children were away. Amimba and Mini-mini had to know, too, that their mothers were doing well and sent their love.

  “Where’s Sarith?” asked papa eventually, and when Elza told him that she was still asleep, papa remarked with a laugh that he had thought that in a town with so many diversions Sarith would be up early. He had a message for Sarith. Her mother wanted her back home. She was expecting a lodger on the plantation very shortly. Even Pa Levi was in the town for only two days. He had arrived yesterday afternoon and would return the next day.

  Mini-mini was sent upstairs by Elza to report that she was awaited down below. When Sarith appeared half an hour later and had greeted Uncle Levi sweetly, he told her that her mother wanted her at Hébron. In a few days’ time the new Jewish teacher, Abraham Cohen, would come to lodge with them. A few weeks earlier, on his way to Joden-Savanna, he had already spent a good week at Hébron and had then enquired after Sarith. On the return journey from Joden-Savanna to Paramaribo he would be their guest again for five days or so. Sarith declared that she would certainly like to return to Hébron if Abraham Cohen was going to stay there. Hadn’t he got bored when he had stayed there a whole week with no-one to keep him company?

  “Rebecca was there, you know,” father Levi replied.

  “Rebecca,” Sarith sneered, as if to make it clear that Rebecca didn’t count.

  Elza closed her eyes briefly. What a relief! Sarith was leaving. What a deliverance! Of course papa stayed for lunch, and Maisa went to the kitchen in the grounds to tell Lena that she would have to cook a little more because the misi’s father had arrived.


  Rutger came home from the office at half past twelve and found to his surprise that his father-in-law was there. When he heard that Sarith would be leaving he said what a pity that was and how they would miss her. Like a bad toothache, thought Elza. Father thought that it would be better for Sarith to go with him immediately after lunch to Esther’s house, since they would have to leave at seven the following morning. But Sarith protested. No, that was impossible. There was so much to pack and she must ensure that Mini-mini forgot nothing. Rutger also protested. No, Sarith must still sleep here tonight and he would himself ensure that she was there at the Platte Brug at seven the next morning together with Mini-mini and all her luggage. That evening everyone went to bed early. After all, the peace had been disturbed by father’s visit, and everyone would have to be up very early the next morning.

  When Elza lay next to her husband in the large bed, she thought that it would after all be better to say nothing. Everything had solved itself. Sarith was leaving. Rutger would be hers again. Thank God!

  SARITH

  Sarith was very quiet during the long journey to the Hébron Plantation. Fortunately, Uncle Levi had other company: a new white officer, destined for a nearby plantation, travelled along with him. He was completely new to the colony and Uncle Levi could tell him everything.

  Sarith had certainly noticed how this blond young man, fresh from Holland, still with rosy cheeks, had looked in her direction on several occasions. She had greeted him with a slight nod early that morning when Rutger had set her down near the Platte Brug.

  She did not feel like talking: she had too much to think about. What kind of situation had she got herself into? Was she in love with Elza’s husband? She would certainly not wish to upset Elza, not Elza of all people. They had always been such good friends. But how, then, had it happened that Rutger had so obviously fallen victim to her charms? Had she encouraged him? No, she thought not, or perhaps she had? In any case, she did have to admit to herself that she had not discouraged him. Oh, as always it had begun as a game, but because she was constantly in his company, it had of itself become more serious. But, well, fortunately nothing dramatic had happened: a few passionate kisses, nothing more.