~x1.s1ave Stories	Page Three
(Texas)








	“For d.e longeet time, maybe two years, dey wasn‘t none cf Papa ~ay~s ~uI1ud folks what left, but den first one farn‘»‘ den ‘nother gits sc~ne 1~nd to make a crop on, arid den daddy gits some land and us leaves, too. Ilaybe he gits de lend from P~a Dey, ‘c~se it I*~,t far from hie p1antat~on. Us sho‘ work hard. on dat pl9ce, but I heared. marna ~ lote of times she wishes we stray on Pepa Day‘s place.

	HI ‘member one year us don!t make no crop hardly and daddy sa~r he gwine ~it out ‘fore us starves to death, and he moves to Houston. He gits a job dclii‘ carpenter work and hires me out for de housegirl. ~it mama dies and daddy takes sick and lies, too. Lawd. have mercy, dat sho‘ de hard time for me when I loses my mama and daddy, and I has to go to Dayton and stay with m~ sister, Rachel. Both my huisbands what I marries done been d~ead a long time now, end de only child I ever had died when he jes‘ a baby. Now l‘s jas‘ alone, s1ttun~ ~rid waitin‘ for de Lawd to call ~