"I was wonderin' what we was gonna do 'bout them."
"Daddy was worried 'bout their profit," I explain, timid 'bout the voice he speaks with. He don't sound like he wanted to do nothin' with 'em.
He nods, a grunt of agreement in 'is throat. He and daddy's language is the same. They speak money. He don't make no move to get up, my frustration growin' with each absense of steps.
"Makes real sense."
"Yessir."
Finally, after the tappin' of my feet, he makes a move outta the bed, takin' 'is sweet 'ol time. I wanna yell but I hold my tongue, even through the loud thunder that shakes the room. He blows the candle out, envelopin' us in complete dark. It scary, in a way, not bein' able to see nothin'.
"You said me and Miss. Lizabeth, correct?"
"Yessir."
I startin' to get anxious, my heart beatin' way too fast beneath my breast. He too slow, way too slow.
"You daddy don't wanna come?"
"No sir."
I clasp my hands togetha, over my stomach and close my eyes. Dear Lord, I whisper inside my head, Please allow my Cecile to be save. Please urge Mista Johnston to pick up speed. Please God, please.
"You ready?"
I nod but he ain't able to see me, so I murmur a yes. I jump back when he brushes up against my side on the way out the door, his hands gropin' the surface to see. It hadn't been to smart of 'em to blow out our only source of light 'till the stairs. I kno' people say men are smarter, but sometime I dunno if they exactly right.
He sends a shiver through my skin, like a ghost passin' through my blood an' skin. For a moment I feel my mother by my side, like she here by God's request. Like she was hurryin' up Mista Johnston, then came to comfort me in my fear. I reach out my hand to her, but there ain't nothin' there. I was jus' imaginin' things.
"You comin' or what?" His voice is real rude an' snappy, like everythin' that annoys him jus' comes back to me. I the fault of all 'is problems.
"I right behind you."
An' I am, follow 'em 'till he reaches Miss. Lizabeth an' the door, then I watch as they descend int a the darkness, the storm swallon' them whole.
"Daddy was worried 'bout their profit," I explain, timid 'bout the voice he speaks with. He don't sound like he wanted to do nothin' with 'em.
He nods, a grunt of agreement in 'is throat. He and daddy's language is the same. They speak money. He don't make no move to get up, my frustration growin' with each absense of steps.
"Makes real sense."
"Yessir."
Finally, after the tappin' of my feet, he makes a move outta the bed, takin' 'is sweet 'ol time. I wanna yell but I hold my tongue, even through the loud thunder that shakes the room. He blows the candle out, envelopin' us in complete dark. It scary, in a way, not bein' able to see nothin'.
"You said me and Miss. Lizabeth, correct?"
"Yessir."
I startin' to get anxious, my heart beatin' way too fast beneath my breast. He too slow, way too slow.
"You daddy don't wanna come?"
"No sir."
I clasp my hands togetha, over my stomach and close my eyes. Dear Lord, I whisper inside my head, Please allow my Cecile to be save. Please urge Mista Johnston to pick up speed. Please God, please.
"You ready?"
I nod but he ain't able to see me, so I murmur a yes. I jump back when he brushes up against my side on the way out the door, his hands gropin' the surface to see. It hadn't been to smart of 'em to blow out our only source of light 'till the stairs. I kno' people say men are smarter, but sometime I dunno if they exactly right.
He sends a shiver through my skin, like a ghost passin' through my blood an' skin. For a moment I feel my mother by my side, like she here by God's request. Like she was hurryin' up Mista Johnston, then came to comfort me in my fear. I reach out my hand to her, but there ain't nothin' there. I was jus' imaginin' things.
"You comin' or what?" His voice is real rude an' snappy, like everythin' that annoys him jus' comes back to me. I the fault of all 'is problems.
"I right behind you."
An' I am, follow 'em 'till he reaches Miss. Lizabeth an' the door, then I watch as they descend int a the darkness, the storm swallon' them whole.
