Short Stories
She was married. She was a mother. She was well known in society, and she was loved. The only thing nobody knew, was her secret. Born and raised down south in Mississippi. Everyone down there knew her secret. They made public her shame; she couldn’t go out the door without the pointing or the snickering. Was it really her fault, what could she change?
Thump, thump, thump, she heard from the door. It must be the maid waking her up for the start of another busy day. As the head of the woman’s committee, and an active participant in the church choir, she lives a busy life. There were just not enough hours in the day.
“Come on in, Cecily.”
“I’m sorry to wake you ma’am, but you must be getting up now. You have a committee meeting in an hour.”
Eliza answered, “Why have you let me sleep this long?”
Before Cecily could say anything, Eliza told her to get her some tea. She managed to pull herself out of the bed, and walk over to the huge vanity. Looking in the mirror she saw it. Sure she could see little hints, such as the tint of her skin, that did not just come from the sun alone. Today she saw it almost everywhere, in her lips, in her nose; even her eyes were reminding her of her lie. Deep inside her eye she saw it…
“Eliza come here and give your daddy a kiss.”
Jumping up in her daddy’s arms, she pressed her tiny little lips against his. She rarely saw her daddy and was a joyous time, but she didn’t understand why she never saw him. There was something different about her little family. Other kids have their mother and father around all the time. She just couldn’t figure out what it is.
“Miss Eliza? Miss Eliza, are you all right?”
The sound of Cecily’s voice broke through; disrupting her flashback to the past. A time in her life she hasn’t thought about in years.
“I am quite alright, Cecily, What do you want?”
“I have your tea, right here.”
“Very good, put it on the table, please. Thank you that will be all.”
Before Cecily shut the door Eliza said,
“Make sure you knock next time.”
Cecily did knock, matter of fact she knocked five times, but besides that fact she said, yes ma’am and went about her business. After getting dress, and fixing her hair in a bun the way she does every day, she walked down stairs. There in her living room sat a man.
“Who are you?”
“My name is…”
“Never mind about that, I am running late, and I must go. Come back again.”
“Ms. Eliza, it would be very wise for you to talk to me right now.”
“I haven’t got the time for this. Can’t you see I’m behind this morning?”
Before she walked out the door the man said,
“I know your secret?”
She turned around very slowly.
“Oh, yes the secret that you thought you could keep hidden… at least until your death.”
“I haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about.” She said with a laugh and went on to say,
“If you could please…”
“You know what I am talking about, and if you don’t give me what I want everyone will know that you are a fake.”
“What is it that you want?”
“Five grand…every other month”
“You must be insane, if you think…”
“It’s completely up to you. Just
know your reputation is on the line. Good day, Ms. Johnson. Oh and get back to me before Monday, or …well you know”
For the rest of the day, she was acting funny. She seemed anxious about something, but nobody knew what it was and she wouldn’t tell them. During the committee meeting she couldn’t think straight. She was very fidgety; she kept almost knocking over her cup of water. In choir practice she was too busy looking around; she couldn’t sing the right note. At home she was moody, ate little, and didn’t listen to her husband as he talked about his day. She was lost, lost in her mind, replaying memory after memory. She was terrified that her past would become her present. Her child was crying, but she seemed not to hear her.
“Eliza…Eliza?”
“Yes, dear”
“The child is whining. Can you not hear her?”
“Oh, I’m sorry… come on sweetie; mommy will tuck you in and read a bed time story.”
Going back to her room, she thought about how she was going to tell her husband about her encounter today. With Mr. um… wait she didn’t even know his name. As she thought she fell on the steps. When she got up she found that she scraped her knee, and again she fell back into history… She had been playing with the chickens in the yard when she scraped her knee. Being a little girl at the time, all she knew to do was cry and run to mommy.
“Mama, mama, I hurt my knee.” She said with a tear socked face.
Her mama grabbed a small vile, that she kept on a shelf in her small shack, and said,
“Let mommy fix that up for you.”
As Eliza saw herself as a little girl looking at her mother’s eyes, it was like she was actually there. Gazing in the eyes of her mother, she started to think about how much her mother was hurting, and how strong she was to hide that from her. She did all she could do for Eliza, and leaving her must have broke her heart.
“Eliza, honey, are you okay?”
The sound of Luke’s voice came from behind her. Getting up and turning around she said,
“Yes, I’m fine.” As the coupled walked to their room her husband asked,
“What’s the matter with you today? You have been completely out of it today.”
“I’m fine Luke. Just a little tired, that’s all.”
“Okay, well do you mind telling me who that man was that came over today?”
“He didn’t tell me his name.”
“What did he want?”
It seemed like several minutes before she said,
“He wanted to discuss a proposition with me.”
“About what”
“Luke I’m extremely tired, can we talk in the morning?”
After that she rolled over, and went to sleep. As she slept, she dreamed about a time when she was ten years old. The day she learned her difference, the day she became ashamed. It was a day, like any other day, in the beginning. She sat by a pound, reading, when a bunch of girls came by and started pulling her hair. They are always picking on her, and she was getting tired of it.
“Why are you always picking on m, I am no different than you.”
“That’s where your wrong princess. Look at your skin and look at mine.” One girl said while pinching Eliza.
She finally realized it. She was as light as her daddy, and the other girls were dark as her mamma. She realized why she never saw her daddy except for special days. Her daddy was white, and her mama black. It was not illegal, but the child was an outcast in both white and black societies. That’s the day she decided she was not going to be the outcast. When she got older she was going to move from this small town, and become somebody, and that was exactly what she did.
Eliza woke up in a cold sweat, accidentally hitting her husband so hard he woke up.
“I’m up, I’m up, I’m up!”
He looked around the room getting his bearings. Then he looked at his wife, who was crying.
“What’s the matter, and don’t say nothing this time.”
She sat there sobbing not saying a word.
“Look at me.”
He said while lifting her chin up. “I love you.”
She looked in his eyes, saw genuine love and concern. She decided to tell him. She told him about her lie, and how when she was twenty she moved up to Chicago, and lied about her family, back ground, and race. About how in Mississippi, she was too white to be black and too black to be white, she told him about the man that had come that day, and when she was through she looked at him to see what he would say. He just grabbed her into his arms, and embraced her.
“I love you Eliza and knowing your true identity does not change a thing. I wish you would have told me sooner.”
“What are we going to do about that man?”
“If you want, we’ll pay him like he asked.”
She looked at him, and she thought about how good she felt, finally telling the truth. Then she said,
“No its time for me to tell the truth, and stop running from my past. If nobody likes me afterward that just proves they weren’t my friends.”
“That means a whole new life, Eliza. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Well Miss Princess let’s put this unspoken truth behind us.”
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