Treasure in a Tin Box (Wall of Silence Book 1)

by Dorey Whittaker

  With a full heart, Tobias replaced the buttons in their envelope and returned them to the tin box. He then retrieved the tattered newspaper clipping that was still attached to his grandpa’s letter that he had received way back in 1905. “Dear Toby Boy, I saw this in today’s paper and thought you would like to see it. I believe the lady in this photograph, who is standing in front of the Italianna Store on the corner of Twelfth and Lexington, is the wonderful lady from the window. I knew you would want to have this. Toby Boy, keep this in your tin box.”

  That wonderful Italian lady had changed his life that day. Thinking about her, he surmised, “I doubt that she remembers me, but I will never forget her! Once I became a young adult and realized what she had saved me from and how profoundly my life would have changed had she not stopped Calvin James, I vowed to remember her.” At the age of eighteen, I came across a Bible verse that talked about sins visiting to the second and third generation. I thought, “If that is true, then it must also be true of blessings.” That day I prayed a blessing on that Italian woman, whose name I do not know, but God does. She risked her safety for me, and I asked God to bless her, to bless her children, and to bless her grandchildren. To this day, I remember her gift to me and pray a blessing on those she loves. In this life, I will never know what my prayers might have done for her and her family. I believe that God’s mercy has been showered on them, and they are not even aware of why—but God does, and that is enough.”

  Overtaken with a profound sense of gratitude, Tobias carefully replaced the clipping in the safety of his tin box and rubbed his eyes. Fifty years later, and all of these items meant as much to him now as they did then—probably more because he now knew how big a debt he owed.

  SECTION THREE

  TOBIAS:

  Atlanta Became My Home

  1904-1906

  7. Meeting Ms. Pearl and Ms. Ruby

  8. Letters From Home

  9. My Loss of Innocence

  CHAPTER 7

  Meeting Ms. Pearl and Ms. Ruby

  LOOKING OUT OF the window at the Spartanburg Station, Tobias spotted a white boy about twelve years of age climbing off the train. His car was two or three ahead, and Tobias had a clear view of the platform. As soon as the boy stepped down, an elderly couple made their way toward him. He assumed they were the boy’s grandparents. By the change in the boy’s body language, he appeared not to know them very well. The grandmother tried to hug him, but the boy pulled away and started walking. He either did not know them, or he didn’t want to be there. Either way, he was not happy.

  Watching him avoid their touch reminded Tobias of the day he had arrived in Atlanta, Georgia. Watching that young boy walking away with people with whom he was not comfortable brought back many old memories. He was just seven years old and did not know his grandpa’s sisters. He remembered feeling every bit as uncomfortable with them as this young lad appeared to be.

  Ms. Pearl and Ms. Ruby were standing on the platform waiting for me. I remember how timid I felt walking up to those two ladies that day. How would I have had any idea of exactly how important they would become to me? That day they were simply strangers, holding a sign with my name printed on it. I walked up to them and introduced myself. “Hello, I am Tobias Bascom. You must be Grandpa’s sisters.”

  Ms. Ruby was the first to respond. She looked like a stiff wind could blow her over, but would soon learn she was stronger than she appeared. I tried not to stare as she tossed her withered leg forward, planted it carefully before putting all her weight on it. She could not stand up straight and tall, instead, she would rest her right hand upon her hip, as if trying to keep from toppling over. Every ounce of her seemed fragile and weak – oh how wrong my first impression turned out to be. I would soon come to learn that Ruby was always the first to respond. She pulled off my cap and rubbed my head, a gesture I detested that day, but one I would come to love and have now missed for eight years. Before sending me to his sisters, Grandpa Samuel told me a little about them. Both of my aunts had married in their twenties, but both of them were now single. Aunt Pearl was widowed and had no living children. Ruby was never able to have children. During her marriage, Ruby worked with her husband on tobacco farms all over the Carolinas. Grandpa said she had gotten hurt by horses and never walked straight again. She had to spend months in bed while recuperating, before her husband brought her back to Atlanta. He could no longer care for her and felt she was better off with her sister Pearl. Grandpa promised me that they were good people.

  As I climbed down from the train that day, little did I know that I was to become the center of their universe, and they were to become mine. Their house was small and very plain, but I felt right at home. Ms. Pearl was much more reserved than Ms. Ruby. At first, I mistook her reserve as being unfriendly. Where Ruby was quick with affection and encouragement, Pearl was the keeper of the rules. Years later I would realize that Pearl was the one who worried about my safety, always fearing I might overstep my bounds and get into trouble. In the early years, she would instruct me on how to walk around white folks, how I was to keep my head lowered and quickly step off the sidewalk and make a clear path for anyone white. Those rules also extended to anyone of color who had risen to a higher state than us—which included nearly everyone. Pearl was stern in her admonishments, wanting me to understand how very important they were to my survival.

  Pearl was also the planner-dreamer of great dreams. I wasn’t in her house for one day before she asked, “Toby Boy, did you go to school in Harlem?”

  “No, Ms. Pearl. Grandpa Samuel needed me, but he did teach me my numbers and letters and how to print my own name.” I remember feeling so proud of myself—for about one whole minute.

  Pearl gave me a studied frown before saying, “The world is changing, and you will need to know more than your letters and numbers if you want to be useful.”

  I do not believe Pearl meant to hurt my feelings; she was so completely focused on preparation and planning that she did not realize she had just stepped all over my young pride. I remember her saying, “Have you ever heard of a man by the name of W.E.B. DuBois?”

  I shook my head no, and Pearl began a speech I would hear many, many times during the next ten years of my youth. “He is a black man who earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University back in 1895. We have Spelman College for women right here in Atlanta. It was started back in 1881, but of course, Ruby and I were already too old to attend. Things are changing, Toby Boy, and I want you to be prepared. We have a country school for black children just three blocks from here, and I am going to enroll you for the upcoming school year. Of course, it only goes through sixth grade right now, but every year they hope to add another year of schooling. Women from Spelman are given college credit under the Atlanta Female Baptist Seminary for coming to our rural schoolhouse, so we have some wonderful teachers.”

  If a seven-year-old can feel the weight of his people on his shoulders, I certainly did. Pearl’s dreams and goals for me were more than I could bear that day. Having never attended a single day of school up until then, Pearl now expected me to go to college. I didn’t even know what you did in college, but I was certain I did not want to go. I remember climbing into my warm bed that first night, missing my grandpa something awful. Seven-year-olds are not supposed to cry, but that night the tears flowed. My heart ached to feel the touch of Grandpa’s big hand on my back. I buried my face in my pillow and let weeks of pent-up emotions loose. I was just about cried out when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Ruby was kneeling beside my bed, trying to comfort me. “Toby Boy, it is going to get better, I promise. I know you miss your family, and we are still strangers to you, but you must know how much Pearl and I love you already? I know we can’t take the place of your grandpa, but if you will just give us a chance, we can also become your family.”

  That night I realized that Pearl was the dreamer-planner, but Ruby was the consoler, comforter, and encourager. Oh, I didn’t yet know those big words like encourager and consol
er, but I remember how they felt to my poor lost little soul that night. I loved Ms. Ruby for playing that role in my life. Where Ms. Pearl would become the keeper of all the rules, it would be Ms. Ruby who would hold me steady and comfort my fears and failures. Every night, while tucking me into bed, Ms. Ruby would say, “Toby Boy, God loves you, and so do we. Inside the walls of this house, you are perfect exactly the way you are. Pearl is just trying to prepare you for life beyond the walls of this house. She loves you, Toby, don’t ever doubt it. You are the boy neither one of us were able to have ourselves; you are God’s gift to both of us.”

  Those two aunts were as different as night and day, but I came to love them both. We did indeed become a family.

  A few days later Pearl walked me to my new school. She stopped at the door and I asked, “Aren’t you coming in with me, Ms. Pearl?”

  “No, Tobias.” Ms. Pearl answered. “I signed you up last week, and Miss Buttons is expecting you. You have a wonderful day today.”

  Oh, how nervous I was walking into my new school that first day. I did not know where to sit, where to stand, or what to say. All of the other children busied themselves putting their sack lunches on the back table, but I just stood there, afraid to move. One girl smiled at me, but I was certain she was really laughing at how ignorant I was, so I did not smile back at her. I studied my new shoes, hoping I would just fall through the floor and die. Unaware that the teacher had come into the room, I about jumped out of my skin when she placed her hand on my shoulder and said, “You must be Tobias. Your Aunt Pearl told me you would be joining us today.”

  I turned around and saw my new teacher, Miss Buttons, and I was smitten. She was beautiful. Her teeth were straight and white and filled her huge smile. She was a tiny woman, about the size of Ms. Ruby. Her hair was pulled back and braided, and her skin reminded me of the deep, dark caramel candies Grandpa would bring home to me. I was sure she was just as sweet. I simply stood there staring at her. She walked over to her desk, took out her chalk and wrote her name in large letters on the board. She then placed the chalk on the tray below the board. Only then did she address the class. “Boys and girls, hurry up and take your seats.” Her voice made my heart want to sing.

  A heavyset boy pushed past me and grabbed my lunch pail out of my hand. I thought he was stealing my lunch, so I grabbed it back and gave him a mean look. He smiled and said, “I was only gunna put your pail on the back table. All the lunches goes there.”

  I was immediately embarrassed and thanked him. “Sorry, I didn’t know. My name is Tobias. I am new here.”

  “I know. My name is Sulley. Ain’t our new teacher a peach?”

  “She sure is. I’ve never had a teacher before. I just moved here.”

  “I knows; you just said that,” Sulley said with a smile. He seemed a nice sort and offered, “Come sits next to me. The teacher has to test you before she puts you in your seat.”

  “Test me? What kind of test, Sulley?” I’ve never taken a test before—what is it?” I followed Sulley to the back row and sat quietly, hoping the teacher would not notice me. The whole class stood up, so I did too. Sulley pushed against my arm and nodded his head as if to say, “Do this,” then he placed his hand on his chest and so I did as well. The teacher tapped her ruler on her desk, and the whole class began reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I was thankful Ms. Pearl had gone over this Pledge five or six times the week before school started, so I felt comfortable joining in. As soon as we finished the Pledge, the girl who had smiled at me earlier led the class in a hymn. I did not know the song, so I stood there watching her as she sang it. For the second time that day, I was smitten. My young heart was filled to overflowing, watching her sing the song. Did all of the boys feel this way about this girl? I certainly wasn’t going to ask them. I simply kept my feelings to myself and sat back down as soon as it was safe to do so.

  I was still staring at the girl and did not notice that my name was being called. Sulley poked me in the side and nodded toward the teacher. Again, she said, “Tobias, while the other children get their papers, pencils, rulers, and glue out of the closet, I need you to come up here so I can test you to see which grade you will be in this year.”

  Ms. Pearl had warned me that I was behind. I should have started school two years earlier while I was living in Harlem, but here in Atlanta, I was only one year behind; but I was still behind. As I walked forward, I was proud that my grandpa had taught me my letters and numbers and that I could show this beautiful teacher that I could even write my name. I took my seat and waited to show her all I knew. She handed me an oilcloth book and asked me to read the first two pages. I could not. I simply placed the book on her desk, and, mortified beyond words, said, “I don’t know how to read yet, Miss Buttons.”

  She smiled at me with that big beautiful smile, which made my mind go blank, and said, “That is all right, Tobias; you will learn. It is my job to teach you how to read, but I don’t believe you are ready for second year just yet. Even though you are already seven, I am going to put you in with the first-year students.”

  My little seven-year-old pride was crushed—for only about a minute. The class was arranged front to back, first year to the sixth year. Boys were on the left. Girls were on the right. Miss Buttons walked me down to row two, right on the aisle. “This will be your seat all year, Tobias. Now you can go back to the closet and get your paper tablet, pencil, ruler, and bottle of glue. Put them in your desk.”

  As Miss Buttons returned to her desk, I looked over to see that same pretty girl who had smiled at me and had led the class in the hymn sitting right across the aisle from me. My pride was no longer crushed. I was now a happy boy.

  As soon as everyone had their supplies, Miss Buttons gave the first of many speeches that I would hear at the start of all six years of school. “This school provides six years of learning for the boys. Everyone will be given basic reading, writing, mathematics, history and religious instruction. If you boys stay with the program, you will graduate at the age of twelve, prepared to apply for apprentice training in any number of factories in the greater Atlanta area. Girls, if your grades merit, you, however, will be offered scholarships for an additional four years of instruction. This opportunity has been graciously offered to you by the Greater Atlanta Female Baptist Seminary. Upon graduation, you girls will have a certificate in either nursing or teaching.”

  After the teacher gave this first-day-of-school speech, you would have thought all of the boys would have felt cheated—quite the contrary. Six long years of being cooped up in this one-room schoolhouse, which was unbearably hot in September, May and June, and unbearably cold from November to March, seemed an interminable amount of time to us boys.

  Six boys and eight girls comprised the first-year students, and one of those girls was Ruth Naomi Johnson, the girl with whom I was smitten. I learned that she was the daughter of the local Methodist minister. As it turned out, every morning after we saluted the flag, we would open class with a word of prayer and a hymn. Because Ruth sat right across the aisle from me I could hear her clear, beautiful voice sing the daily hymns. I never tired of hearing her sing.

  At recess I looked around for Sulley. Not knowing anyone, at least I felt that Sulley would be nice to me. It turned out that we had no sixth year boys at our school because it had not been open long enough to have any boys get that far. Sulley was the oldest boy, and he only was in year four, although, according to his age, he should have already graduated. I found him at the water fountain. It was a hot September day in Atlanta, and as Sulley was a big boy, he sweat a lot. Every recess he headed straight for the water fountain. Once he had his fill, he suggested, “It’s too hot to play ball, Tobias. Do you play marbles? You have any marbles, Tobias?” Then he made a funny face and asked, “You have a nickname, Tobias? Your name is for a grown man. My real name is Sullivan Dunbar, but everyone just calls me Sulley.”

  “People call me Toby.”

  “Ah, Toby it is then. If you don’t
have no marbles, I cans borrow you five or six of mine, but I has to get them back. They really belongs to my big brother. He don’t play with them no more, but they still is his.”

  “I don’t know how to play marbles, Sulley.” Twice in one day I had to admit to someone that I didn’t know how to do something—and for the second time, I was told, “That’s okay, Toby, I can teach you.” I knew Sulley was going to be a good friend.

  Sulley led me under a large pecan tree, found a stick and drew a large circle in the dirt and emptied out his pocket into the dirt. He separated out six small marbles and one large one he called a good shooter and shoved them over to me. He told me the rules and suggested I spend that whole recess practicing how to shoot marbles. “Once you get it, we can play a game,” Sulley promised without any insult in his voice.

  After a week or two, I noticed that none of the other boys were interested in playing marbles with us. One or two made comments to me about staying away from Sulley, but I ignored them. I could not figure out why they disliked Sulley so much. Oh sure, he sweated like a pig, and his clothes did smell. He was never prepared when Miss Buttons called on him to read or recite something in class, and he could always be counted on to ask for handouts. “You gonna eat that?” Sulley always seemed to be hungry, and the other boys were tired of sharing their meager lunches with him. None of us had much, but the one thing we had at my house was plenty of food. After I told Ms. Ruby about Sulley, I started finding an extra sandwich and cookie in my lunch pail every day. I wouldn’t even wait for Sulley to come around asking. I just walked up to the table, sat down next to him, and placed the extra sandwich in front of him. It made me feel so good to see him smile as he picked up those sandwiches.