What was Ruby doing?
Gently, he handed the baby off to a sister, he didn’t know which one, but someone had to hold Solomon so he could stop her.
And she spoke. She said the Declaration of Independence right along with the Reverend, word for word, and she, unlike him, did not need any paper in front of her. It was coming right from her out into the world with a strong, proud and resolute voice. Now the Negroes, shunned off into the corner, could hear the words.
Even as he tiptoed between quilts, preparing to stop her, the recitation she gave of the familiar words stirred him. She believed, wholeheartedly, in what she said and she recited it to all with everything in her.
Taller than everyone else, he noted the attention of the white side was not on the Reverend, rather, they were watching Ruby and her loud, proud, recitation of the well-known document. There were scowls on nearly every white face, including Mary Winslow, and he kept a smile to himself inside of his heart.
At the part of reciting the list of grievances against the king, Ruby would say the “He,” with special emphasis. It came across, to Adam at least, as a heartfelt condemnation of Paul Winslow and his rule in the small town.
Adam turned his head quickly to look at Lona, who was terrified. Lona stood too, as if she wanted to go and stop Ruby, but John stopped her with his hand. John’s pride in his daughter was unmistakable as they all watched Ruby speak.
Out of the corner of his eye, though, the sheriff was edging closer to Ruby. Adam tried to speed up his footsteps, but there were too many people between them.
With a beet red face, Paul Winslow had stepped off of the bandshell and directed the sheriff to where Ruby stood. Now it was time to pray.
Please protect her, God. Help me to get to her.
His heart started to beat faster—Ruby had really gotten herself into trouble this time. Nothing should happen to her. Solomon needed her. He needed her. How could he have been so casual about what had told her earlier? Had he spent so much time by himself, studying, so he didn’t know how to talk to another person, another woman?
No wonder she hated him.
“In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” The sheriff had beaten him and stood right in front of her. Ruby did not flinch. She made her voice louder, clearer and stronger.
Please, God, let her be safe. Let her be safe.
His prayers creaked through his brain, probably because it had been a long time since he had prayed, but he needed to believe in her safety.
“A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”
She must have sensed him coming closer, because she held up a hand. Stay away, she seemed to say. Let me finish. Despite his typical good sense, Adam gave her her wish, and fell back at the edge of the crowd but his heart thudded in fear and worry for her.
As Ruby got closer to the end, the sheriff came closer but Ruby did not move, and did not appear afraid. As she ended the recitation, her voice grew stronger and more forceful.
At the end her voice almost boomed, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” She finished and Adam leapt to her. But there were strong men on either side of him, holding him down. She finished and a crowd of officials surrounded her, and pulled her off, deep into the town square.
Colored Corner did not realize at first what was happening to Ruby, because they were applauding, but when they realized she had been taken away, they protested in loud, angry voices. Adam tried to follow the white officials, but soon, they were swallowed up by the crowd who, he could see, were clearly condemning Ruby.
Bits of her straw boater were strewn on the ground, and with horror he understood the angry crowd must have ripped the hat from her head. What else had been ripped from her? The thought scared him, and he ran back to the Bledsoes, trying to think about what to do. “Where’s Ruby?” Mags cried out as he came back.
“They’ve taken her away,” Adam said, “probably to be arrested.”
“She ain’t do nothing,” Nettie cried.
“Hush,” Lona told her daughter. “They going to take her to jail. We got to get her out of there.”
John gathered his daughters into his arms as they began to cry. The fireworks started and the loud sound made Solomon join in the crying as well. “We should get back home. I’ll take as many as I can in the car, then I’ll come out to see what is going on. Let’s go.”
Packing up baskets, he resolved to carry as many Bledsoes into the car as he could. Could he do something for Ruby to get her out of custody?
He would do anything, even trade on his associations with Paul Winslow, to keep her safe. As he balanced Solomon and picnic baskets in his arms, something struck him.
He had never been a part of anything before. And now, he was a part of something for the first time in his life. The answer, to him, shone clear and the possibilities of resolving everything for Ruby became immediately obvious. He knew what he had to do.
Her straw boater had been her only other hat besides her pink one and now it was gone. Warm hot blood rushed to her face. How could they be so mean to her?
Thank God the boater had not been secured with her usual hatpin, or they would have ripped her hair out by the roots too. She had grown up in Winslow and known these people for most of her life and they had ripped and clawed at her like animals, as if they wanted her torn apart.
In all of the times she had gotten into trouble, she had never been arrested before. Uncle Arlo had and she tried to be as brave as he must have been when they had taken him from the jail cell into the woods and…
Ruby shook her head to clear the vision of her dear uncle from her mind and ignored her racing pulse. When the sheriff had finally gotten her into the clear to a car and pushed her inside, she could see the hands of the crowd had dirtied her crisp white middy blouse. “Where are you taking me?” she asked Sheriff Baines.
“Hush up, girl.” Sheriff Baines started the car and jumped inside.
“I should know where I’m going to.”
“I said, hush. You done caused more than enough trouble today.”
“Okay,” Ruby sat back and breathed, “At least tell me what I did wrong, Sheriff Baines.”
“You up here disturbing the peace during the Declaration speech. You heard Mr. Winslow. You should have been quiet. Up here making me miss the fireworks to deal with you.”
Ruby sat in the seat of the car and was struck with a pure terror. Was Solomon okay? Would he be able to eat? Thanks to Adam, he knew how to feed him without her now. The thought made her sad, along with the alarm running in her blood at being taken to some unknown place.
Sheriff Baines pulled up to the courthouse building where Winslow’s two-celled jail pen was located. “You can’t put me in jail,” she said with more bravery than she felt. Sheriff Baines came around the side of the car and grabbed her arm. His sweaty palm print would leave more marks on her blouse.
“I can do whatever I want, gal, now you’re in my company. Come on here.”
No. No more of whatever they wanted to do to her. There was worse and her mother had endured it. Uncle Arlo had lost his life over it. Was she in for the same treatment? Tears began to run down her face.
She didn’t understand how brave her mother had been before, how strong in God’s presence she had to stand, but now, facing the unknown, she knew. She would neve
r question or disrespect Lona again. And she would always, always fight Uncle Arlo’s good fight.
“Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” The words gave her comfort and the understanding of this particular commandment came to her for the first time in her life.
“Shut up.” Sherriff Baines jerked her hard by her arm into the empty courthouse building. As he guided her down dark corridors where the jail cells were housed in the basement, she could see, luckily for her, there was no one in the jails.
Be brave.
“I still should know why I’m here.”
Baines pushed her into the jail cell door he opened. “Creating a public disturbance.”
“I was saying the Declaration so everyone could hear it. Have you even been in Colored Corner trying to hear?”
“I ain’t colored,” Baines snarled as he shut the door. “Praise God.”
Now that she was in the bare cell, and out of his clutches, she could say what she really wanted. “We can’t hear when you all push us away from the band shell. I was just making it so everyone could hear.”
Her words gave Baines pause, as if he might let her go, but he shook his head. “You get into too much trouble ’round here. You tell it to Mr. Winslow. He’ll be here to talk to you.” He walked away.
“Paul Winslow is not God, no matter what he thinks. He’s just a man, same as you,” Ruby shouted after him. There was only one place to sit, on a saggy cot in the jail cell and she sank down on it, weary. “He’s a person, just like me.”
She laid down on the thin cot and said the Lord’s Prayer to herself, over and over again to give her comfort. Solomon, her family, Adam—those thoughts would only make her cry.
Instead, wetness seeped through the front of her blouse in the form of two equal circles. Her breasts wept and she had no way of changing clothes. The thought of the wasted milk and what it meant for Solomon made the silent tears fall faster as she lay on the dirty cot. The boom, boom, boom of the fireworks sounded overhead, and matched the thudding fear resonating in her heart.
Ruby sat up at a slight scuffling in the hallway. She looked all around her. She was a country girl and could handle seeing most anything, but she really didn’t want the scuffling to be people.
Or rats.
She clasped her hands. Lord, please, please protect me. Please be there for me. I am sorry I was so foolish, I was just trying to help my people to hear, really hear the words of the Declaration so they could know, just as I know, it means me too, even though so many people here don’t seem to know.
Her dry throat was full of emotion.
Then, Paul Winslow appeared in front of her. He held a tin cup in his hand. “How you?”
Pushing back at her hair, she knew she must look a sight with mussed hair, ripped clothes and large milk spots on her blouse. “I’m fine, thank you.”
She folded her arms over the milk spots, which had dried by now and tried to look brave. Paul Winslow laughed at her efforts and she stuck her chin out, determined he would not see her broken. “Thirsty?”
“No.” The shine of the tin cup sparkled in the near dark and she licked her dry crusted lips. Better not to drink. She didn’t know what was in there.
“Are you sure, girl? It ain’t nothing but water.”
“No, thank you.”
Paul Winslow stood there in front of her and drank most of it, then threw the rest on the floor into the jail cell with her. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What do you call yourself trying to do now, by ruining by celebrations? More of your organizing?”
“Sir, I was trying to speak the words so everyone, including those in the back corner, could hear. If the Declaration is for everyone, then it should be loud enough for all to hear it.”
“And so you took it upon yourself to make it happen. Without asking, saying anything?”
She met those Winslow eyes of his, the ones like Solomon’s, Adam’s and David’s. Those eyes figured too much into her life and she would not look away like she was supposed to. “You don’t speak to me direct most of the time, sir. How would I know what you say?”
He flustered at this response. “It’s the job of the Reverend to read the Declaration.”
“He’s getting mighty old, sir. That’s why I did what I did.”
“Not to cause no ruckus or scene like you do?”
“Sir, every problem I have with you and the mill, I take up with the workers direct. I don’t mean to cause a scene; I wanted to help people out. Just like I helped out today.”
Paul Winslow fixed her with a steely stare. “I don’t know, Ruby. You’ve gotten yourself into a lot of trouble in the past.”
“Some of the trouble, sir, was not of my making,” Ruby stared back at him, thinking Adam’s warm grey eyes looked very different in his father’s cold, harsh face.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, you got you a baby now. You can’t go around causing trouble. Got to settle down. I hear you’ve had an offer of marriage.”
Ruby shouldn’t have been surprised he would know, given how Dodge had informed them of her plans to do the oration and cozying up to him at the picnic earlier. Still, she was surprised at Paul Winslow’s interference in the life events of his laundress’s daughter. Someone who was supposed to be the lowest of the low.
The casual way Paul Winslow bothered to be down here in the jailhouse, telling her she needed to get married proved she was important, as she had always known. Ruby sat up on the cot a little straighter, and prouder. “Yes?” The one word was a question. Just what did he propose she should do?
“You need to go on and take it. Go on, get married and have some more babies. What women are supposed to do.” He pointed at her. “You, you say now what you’re going to do, and I’ll call your intended in and free you from this jail right now. You can go on home.”
So, that’s what this was all about. He wanted reassurance she wasn’t going to cause him any more worry or trouble. But marriage to the wrong man would be exchanging one jail cell for another. All she wanted to do was to go back to her son, almost worse than anything, but to give in now would set the whole course of her son’s life back, almost back to slavery.
This moment, this confrontation with this terrible, powerful man meant allowing Solomon to go forward in this world. She wanted that more than leaving the jail. “I can’t tell you I’m going to marry someone before I tell the man.”
“You want me to call him down here? I get Dodge in here now, and you can tell him yourself and put an end to all of this. I can get a marriage license and even Reverend. Melvin too, make it all official.” Paul Winslow looked all around him, as if he were going to summon Dodge now.
“No, don’t call him. I don’t want to talk to him now.”
He hung on the bars in such a way Ruby knew he had to be intoxicated. Had that been water in the cup? Ruby’s eyes followed the wet shape on the floor that the tossed away drink had made. As temperance herself, the disgust and alarm rolled in her threatening to empty her stomach. Had he been trying to get her drunk? “And why not?”
“I’m still thinking it over.”
He stood and smoothed his thinning brown hair down. “You better do more than think, girl. You better tell him yes and get yourself married and have a bunch of babies with Dodge.”
“And if I don’t?”
“If you don’t?”
“Yes, what if I don’t, sir? What do you have to say to me, a local little Negro girl who is not married?”
“There’s a whole lot more I could say. I could say, I could call David down here and let him handle you again Yes. I think my son’s got some more celebrating to do on the birthday of the United States. I think he could have some more celebration with you.” She gulped down the near vomit that rose up in her throat.
He believed he could rattle her.
And she was rattled. She wouldn’t show him, though.
“David’s got a few buddies up at school who would like to have a good time with a pretty Negro gal too.”
Stay brave. Ruby swallowed hard again.
Paul Winslow held out a warning finger. “Then, I could say your fine boy should not be permitted to be with a whore mother. Yes, I could say, a white child like him deserves a chance in this world to live away from a whore mother. I could say plenty.”
“Don’t touch my son!” Ruby cried in spite of herself. “Don’t you touch him!” The tears in her face threatened to break loose in a flood. He had gotten to her.
“You see? We agree. Your baby shouldn’t have a whore for a mother. He deserves a solid, respectable home to grow up in with a father and a respectable mother. What about what he needs? Make up your mind.” He slapped the tin cup against the bars of the door, making loud clanking sounds. “You think about what you want. See you in the morning.” He turned on his heel and left.
Ruby stood and grasped the bars of the jail cell door. “Don’t touch my baby! Don’t touch my baby!” She screamed the words over and over as the tears slipped down her cheeks, her voice hoarse.
I don’t care about myself, God, just protect my baby. Protect Solomon. The picture in her mind of Adam holding Solomon in his arms was all she had to hold onto. And it calmed her for some reason.
Chapter Fourteen
Adam and John decided to leave during the fireworks display, figuring the crowd would be too distracted to notice. As Adam drove, Lona’s stiff and ramrod straight countenance cast a shadow in the darkness, as did Mags’s worried face. Sad little Delie just sniffled. Delie, reprimanded with a slap at conveying her disappointment at missing the fireworks, wiped away tears with a grubby middy sleeve.
As punishment, Delie had been charged to keep Solomon. For a five-year-old, Delie was doing a great job. Solomon made light fluttering noises of sleep in the backseat as his young aunt clung to him. John had the other girls in the wagon and Adam hoped he would make a brisk pace home.
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