by Londyn Skye
James watched Lily in awe, just as he had many times throughout his life. He remembered thinking as a boy that she was always so great at everything she had ever done, but he knew that what he was currently witnessing her do was beyond great. The look on William’s face further confirmed that he was justified in believing that Lily was born with an extraordinarily unique gift.
When William was finished running through dozens of various musical chords with Lily, he turned to look at her like he had found the most priceless treasure. “It is quite rare that anyone has the ability to hear a series of notes and play them back perfectly as you just did, m’lady. In the world of music, it is known as having perfect pitch. After all my years of training, I am unable to accomplish this feat. I’ve come to realize that you’re either born with this ability, or you’re not. It simply cannot be taught, and it most certainly cannot be learned.” There was a sudden softness in William’s voice as he continued. “I don’t think you realize just how unique and precious a gift this is that God has blessed you with, or how special you truly are.” He took Lily’s hand in his. “Please believe me when I tell you that you are truly one-of-a-kind.”
Lily raised her head slowly to meet William’s bright green eyes and saw nothing but sincerity in them as they gazed upon her. She had forgotten what it felt like to receive genuine words of kindness, and almost did not remember how to respond. “Th-Thank you kindly, Mr. William,” she said shyly.
“I would certainly love to hear you play some more, if you don’t mind.”
“No, sa’, I don’t mind at all.”
Like two children who shared a favorite toy, Lily and William continued playing on through the morning, one song after another. Each of them showed the other their favorite compositions and, at times, easily played songs together in harmony. William was instantly captivated by Lily. Of all the people he had known with years of fine piano instruction, he had never seen one who had achieved the level of professionalism he was witnessing in her. He felt honored to be sitting beside a young woman whose hands and prodigal mind he was convinced had been touched by God Himself.
James had sat down and was watching the pair quietly from the corner, wondering how Lily was able to hide the musical side of her from him through the years. He wondered what he had done to make her feel as if she could not trust him with such an unbelievable secret. It stung him deeply as he watched her play and kept him from fully enjoying the symphonic sounds erupting in the room. He even began feeling a twinge of irrational jealousy after noticing that William and Lily seemed to have a profound connection with one another rather quickly.
“Excuse me for interruptin’, but lunch is ready,” Benjamin announced from the doorway.
“My goodness, is it lunchtime already? Why, we’ve been here all morning,” William said, pulling out his pocket watch and glancing at the time. “You must be starving by now,” he said, patting Lily’s hand gently. “You go and have your fill. James and I need to head into town to handle some much-needed business, but you are more than welcome to continue playing whenever you’d like.”
After being touched by William’s music and his kind words, Lily felt a slight return of her appetite for the first time in days. She was initially floating on the clouds after being temporarily allowed to play her beloved instrument again. However, as she walked toward the door, she caught a glimpse of James in the corner, and she suddenly wondered the nature of the “business” that he needed to handle in town with William. It quickly reminded her that she would soon be forced to face her inevitable punishment. With that thought, Lily instantly fell from her high back into the hell of reality. Suddenly, the little desire she had for food vanished, along with her desire to continue playing.
Chapter Six
Manumission:
The act of a slave owner freeing his slaves.
Slave Code
Article IV Section III
Masters, when twenty-five years old, shall have the power to manumit their slaves, either by testamentary dispositions, deed of manumission, or by their last will and testament.
For three whole days, Lily still had no interest in playing William’s piano. She was sickened by the way that he and James would traipse off together after breakfast every morning, claiming that they needed to handle some “business” in town. Lily assumed that “business” had everything to do with what James had originally dragged her there for. In her mind, there seemed to be no other explanation for the two of them to be conspiring together. Their daily excursions left Lily with no musical desires. Instead, she had a paralyzing fear that William and James would eventually take her along with them after their negotiations, and drop her off in some foreign place, leaving her there to do the “business” they were expecting from her.
Even though William and James were always gone until late evening, Lily refused to leave her room. She remained hidden there, politely declining every meal that was offered to her by claiming she was not feeling well. Having quickly plunged into an immobilizing melancholy state, that claim was not far from the truth. The emotional pain of her despair was indeed taking a toll on her health. Even her free rein to play the piano was not enough to alleviate her internal aching. There was not a song worth playing, or one she felt she could ever compose, that would soothe the thought of losing her child. Death, she felt, was her only solution.
The constant desire to end her life trumped most of Lily’s thoughts as she lay on the cold hardwood floor next to her bed. Her obsessive thoughts of suicide even kept her from relaxing enough to fall asleep. On the few occasions she was able to doze off, she would have sickening nightmares, similar to the one she had had about William. The terrifying dreams would jolt her awake, robbing her of the sleep that would have given her a temporary reprieve from the rampant torturous thoughts that were bombarding her mind.
Knowing nothing about slave breeding, Lily’s mind was filling in the details with the horrors she had cultivated in her imagination. Along with the awful images rolling around in her head, Lily had a curious question that was constantly gnawing at her. Ironically, though, it had nothing to do with breeding; there was something about William that did not make any sense to her. During their brief interaction playing the piano together, Lily had noticed a vibrant enthusiasm in William that was unlike any other man she had ever met. He exuded a love for people, life, and music that was extraordinarily infectious. His persona seemed a complete contradiction to the cold callous nature of every other slave owner Lily had ever met. But what impacted her most about William were the words that he had graced her with after discovering her gift of perfect pitch. It was not only his beautiful words, but the manner with which he had spoken them. Lily still recalled the warmth she felt as he held her hand and looked into her eyes while speaking with such tenderness and sincerity. The memory of that moment with him kept penetrating the darkness Lily had hopelessly sunk into, filling it with a brief spark of light.
Despite William’s kind nature and extreme generosity, Lily still loathed him. Simply for the fact that he owned slaves, she considered him an enemy. James’s injustices against her had taught her a painful lesson about gullably trusting white men. Lily, therefore, remained guarded, convinced that William’s kind acts were to make it easier to manipulate her into doing anything he wanted. But still, a nagging question about him dangled loosely in her mind because of that unforgettable moment between them at the piano. The nagging intensified when Lily finally found the strength to get up off the hardwood floor. After three days of lying there immobilized, she walked over to the window, drew back the curtains, and looked out at the endless acres of plantation land that surrounded William’s enormous mansion. It was Lily’s curiosity about what she saw that finally persuaded her to leave her room in search of an answer to her question.
Long after William and James had left for the morning, Lily quietly tiptoed downstairs and ventured outside. She stepped out from under the shadow of the porch and squinted her eyes when the sunli
ght hit her face for the first time in days. She appreciated the warmth on her skin as she then walked from one end of William’s land to the other. What she was observing during her stroll left her even more perplexed about who this William Werthington really was. She walked back toward the mansion determined to obtain the answers to all the things she was puzzled by. However, she feared the consequences of questioning James. She had an intuition, though, that she could trust two people in particular to give her insight.
Anna Mae and Benjamin, the older Negro couple who took care of William’s home, were in the kitchen together. They were working on their long to-do list to prepare for William’s upcoming fundraising gala. It was an event that William’s wife, Emma, had begun years prior. It started small but then grew into a massive annual event that welcomed some of the town’s most prominent citizens. Emma had put her heart and soul into perfecting the esteemed yearly gathering. Despite Emma’s death, William continued the gala in her honor.
Anna Mae and Benjamin were working on party decorations when they suddenly heard the kitchen door open. They turned to find Lily meekly standing there. Being that it was the first time Lily had willingly left her room, the couple was happily surprised to see her. They had both become concerned about Lily’s well-being after the nightmare Benjamin had witnessed her having. Since then, Anna Mae had knocked on Lily’s door every day to ask her if she wanted to eat. Anna Mae always noted the sadness in Lily’s eyes as she politely declined. Despite her opposition to eating, Anna Mae would set the meal on the nightstand anyway. Exuding a motherlike love, she would pat Lily gently on the arm and tell her to at least try to eat a little. Lily always appreciated Ben and Anna Mae’s compassion and their efforts to make her feel comfortable. It was their warmth that gave Lily the confidence to approach them, hoping they would give her the clarity she was seeking.
The question Lily asked them brought the gala preparations to a standstill. Anna Mae and Ben soon found themselves seated with Lily at the dining room table as they told her a story that brought back a blend of painful and happy memories from a day that changed their lives forever. Even Ben could not hold back a few stray tears while recalling what had happened to them so long ago.
After hearing William and James approach in their carriage, Lily glanced out the window. “I knew a man as kind as that once,” Lily told the couple while staring directly at James, comparing him to a certain man from their story. Lily was sure to wipe away her tears before James entered the house. He stormed through the kitchen door, looking extremely frustrated. He breezed by Lily without so much as a hello or even a glance in her direction. His actions did not faze Lily, though; her skin had become impenetrable to the coldness that her former friend now always emitted.
Later in the evening, Anna Mae was making her way up to Lily’s room to see if she was hungry. However, she was surprised to see that Lily was already heading downstairs. Motivated by the story she had been told, Lily decided to join William and James for dinner on the porch, instead of hiding in her room per usual. Both men ceased their conversation after she quietly stepped outside and stood there looking nervous.
“Good evening, m’lady!” William said, smiling at her. “Please make an old man happy and tell me that you’ll be gracing us with your presence at dinner this evening.”
“I’s very much hopin’ to, Mr. William.”
“Delightful!” William stood and pulled out a chair for her.
Anna Mae smiled from the doorway and went to retrieve a plate of food for her. Lily then walked meekly toward the seat William had pulled out. She sat down and placed a cloth napkin in her lap, feeling hesitant to lift her head after doing so.
“Please forgive my absence throughout the past few days. I’m afraid I haven’t been much of a host since you’ve come here, but I hope that Anna Mae and Ben have been gracious substitutes.”
“No need to ask forgiveness. I know y’all are busy. And, yes, Ms. Anna Mae and Mr. Ben done been more than kind to me,” Lily replied.
“That’s wonderful to hear,” William replied. “So, tell me, have you taken the opportunity to play piano again since…”
“William, I’m sorry to interrupt, but Ben and I need your help for a moment, if ya’ don’t mind?” Anna Mae said after setting a plate of fried chicken and mashed potatoes in front of Lily. She had a tone in her voice that made the matter seem urgent.
“Not at all,” William replied. He then excused himself from the table to go and help.
Lily already felt uneasy sitting there with James and William. But now, being there alone face to face with James caused her discomfort to increase tenfold. As uncomfortable and anxious as Lily was, though, she decided to seize the opportunity to speak to James alone. She nervously twirled her spoon around in her mashed potatoes, before clearing her throat and finding the courage to speak. “I-I, umm, been meanin’ to tell you, thank you.”
“For what?” James asked flatly, still shoveling food into his mouth.
“For the unda’garments and the new dress. They’s real nice.”
“I figured it was due time for new ones, that’s all,” he responded matter-of-factly.
“Whateva’ the reason, I thank you.”
James suddenly stopped eating. “You’re welcome,” he replied, sounding as if it was difficult to say.
It had been years since the two of them had had a civil conversation. The tension between them was so thick in the air it was almost visible. James returned to his meal when a few awkward moments had passed without a word, but Lily refused to hold on to the rest of what she wanted to say. “I had a real long talk with Anna Mae and Ben this afta’noon while you and William was out,” she began, as she watched James continue to eat. He still did not bother to look up from his plate. She continued to speak, even though he seemed not to be paying attention. “They say they used to live down in Georgia a long time ago. They was workin’ togetha’ on the same plantation with their two children. Of course, they didn’t like the idea of bein’ slaves, but they was just glad they was all togetha’ as a family. But, afta’ a few years, their masta’ decided he was gonna sell some ‘a his slaves. Anna Mae, Ben, and they two children was among the ones he planned to do away with. Ben say his masta’ needed the money any way he could get it, even if it meant splittin’ up families.” Lily’s voice suddenly began to quiver. “So, h-he took ’em all down to the Negro auction and…” She stopped for a moment and looked at her wrists as they lay in her lap. She suddenly recalled the red marks that her mother had left there from holding on to her so tightly the day her father dragged her away to be sold.
James stopped eating, laid his fork down slowly, and stared at Lily in a way that let her know she finally had his undivided attention. When she felt a sudden shift in his demeanor, she looked up from her wrists and met a pair of eyes that were still stunningly beautiful to her. It reminded her of the first time they had come face to face in the woods as children. She had forgotten how easily she could get lost while looking into James’s eyes. His gaze temporarily halted her ability to speak while simultaneously bringing her a sense of comfort, just as it had all those years ago in their playground paradise near the creek.
Lily had to force herself to look away. She cleared her throat and nervously continued. “B-Ben say his masta’ dragged ’em all down to the Negro auction. When they got there, Anna Mae said she was cryin’ like she ain’t neva’ cried before in all her life. She was holdin’ on to Ben and her children so tight, she had to be whipped one good time just to let ’em all go.”
Upon hearing of Anna Mae’s whipping, the expression on James’s face changed. Lily immediately noticed the way his eyes suddenly wandered away from her face down to the table. She always read James’s subtle gestures well; she was surprised to see that he was pained to hear such a thing. But Lily did not let it stop her from continuing the story. She wanted to free her mind no matter how uncomfortable James might feel hearing what she had to say.
“Anna Mae
say Ben was the first one their owna’ marched up onto the auction block. Back then they called ’em Big Ben. He was strong and worth quite a bit ‘a money. There was hands flyin’ up in the air everywhere tryna get bids in to buy ’em, long before he could even get all the way up the auction block steps. Once they was well into the biddin’, Anna Mae say she noticed it was one man in the crowd who was quickly raisin’ the bids by a hundred dolla’s every time someone tried to outbid ’em. One-by-one, folks was quickly droppin’ outta the auction. Everyone’s eyes drifted toward the extravagant bidda’ when they realized that he just wasn’t gonna quit ’til he got what he wanted … And they were right. When there was only one man left to challenge ’em, he raised the bid by five hundred dolla’s and it was ova’. He had purchased Big Ben for twice the amount most slaves his size was goin’ for. But despite all the money he’d just spent, he still wasn’t finished. He stood out in that hot Georgia sun that day and didn’t stop biddin’ ’til he got himself three more slaves. And when he did, he loaded ’em all up in his carriage, and brought ’em all back to his home … right here on this very plantation.”
James still just sat there quietly gazing at Lily, intently listening, entranced by the compassion in her voice as she spoke.
“William Werthington,” Lily finally revealed. “He was ridin’ through that town in his carriage right before that auction started and saw Anna Mae holdin’ on to her family, cryin’ like the devil was rippin’ ’er soul apart. William pulled ova’ and bid every dolla’ he could to buy her, Ben, and they two children. And just as soon as they set foot on this here plantation, he signed they papers and set ’em all free. Every one of ’em,” she whispered. “They’s free as birds,” she said, looking out into the trees, wondering what that kind of freedom felt like.
“William told ’em all they could stay here in his home for as long as they liked until they got on their feet. In return for his hospitality, Ben and Anna Mae decided to take on the responsibility of cleanin’ and cookin’ all the meals and helpin’ with William’s children. Eventually, they all became so close that William didn’t want any of ’em to leave. William’s wife especially begged ’em all to stay because her two boys had become so close to their children, and she sho’ appreciated them keepin’ ’er company in this big ol’ house wheneva’ William was travelin’. And in all these years, Benjamin say William and his wife ain’t neva’ treated ’em like anythang less than they own kin folk. Both of ’em swear William got a heart bigga’ than the moon itself.” Lily paused for a moment and looked out onto the plantation fields.