The kitchen was bright and warm, the table was set and the rest of the family had arrived home by the time Rose and Happy finished cooking dinner. A tall young man sat next to Sylvester at the table, across from Beauty and Queen. Sarah, awake after a brief nap, was rocking in her chair. Marlene and Mary were putting dishes on the table as the smaller children crossed to the sink to wash their hands. Rose and Daniel helped the children then washed up themselves, and then everyone was seated for the evening meal.
Rose was pleased that Daniel pulled out a chair for her, and even more pleased that it was between him and his sister Queen. Sylvester was grinning, watching Daniel hold Rose’s chair and scoot it in for her.
“Did you hurt yourself today, Rose?” he asked.
“No sir,” she replied, surprised.
Over her shoulder, Daniel frowned at him, which made Sylvester’s grin grow wider.
“Let’s eat this good food, family,” Sarah said as she rose from her rocker and came to the table.
The tall young man, rising and pulling a chair out for her, earned a warm look and a “Thank you Roy, you’re a good boy,” from Sarah.
Sarah sat and looked around the long, full table.
“Look at this good food. Look at these beautiful children. I am overwhelmed with blessings. Sylvester, will you say grace?”
All heads were bowed. Sylvester prayed:
“Heavenly Father, bless this family and these gifts which we are about to receive.
Thank you for this food and our many blessings, Amen.”
“Amen," the others echoed.
“Let’s eat," Sarah added.
The table was covered with dishes of food. The pot roast was sliced on a platter with onions and carrots surrounding the meat. Rabbit pieces from two unfortunate creatures A.T. had hunted that afternoon were on another platter, swimming in gravy and greens. A third platter held ham slices in red eye gravy. A huge bowl of mashed potatoes made its way around the table, followed by another full of green beans. There were biscuits and cornbread, butter and jam, and pickles in a dish.
Everyone was passing dishes for several minutes, and Rose found she was hungry for the food given her. The long day’s work, the walking and working in the fresh air, had created an appetite for good food she hadn’t had in a long time.
“You have enough?” Queen asked her.
“Oh, yes!” Rose exclaimed with a smile.
“Grandmama, I killed those rabbits Happy cooked for us,” A.T. boasted. “Threw my rabbit killer, thunk! They’re dead!”
“Why, you’re getting so big, only eight and already feeding your family. You’ll be ready to get married pretty soon, I guess,” Sarah told him as she smiled and took a saddle of rabbit from the plate.
“I will be soon, ‘Mama. I’m going to marry Minnie Lee, she’s the best girl I know.”
“Why you love her so? She’s always roughing you over, wrestling you in the dirt,” Sarah asked.
“That’s why, Grandmama, I like to wrestle her. She’s as strong as I am,” he replied with a serious look.
“Well there’s worse reasons, I guess, for getting married,” Sarah laughed.
“What’s a rabbit killer?” Rose whispered to Queen.
“It’s a lead pipe with a big old bolt, size of your fist, threaded on the end. Heavy enough to squash any rabbit too slow to run away,” Queen whispered. Daniel, listening to his sister’s description, grinned at Rose.
“Grandmama has to keep him from hunting with it some days,” he added. “There won’t be a rabbit for twenty miles around."
As everyone began to eat Sylvester mentioned that he had brought the greenery to the church and had made sure James' trap line was checked and re-baited, as well as his own.
“You’re a good man to help your uncle. James hasn’t been well at all since he had that stroke,” Sarah said.
“Aaron will be back tomorrow, he and Gussie are up in Archer at her family’s farm,” Sylvester explained. “He’ll pick up the line tomorrow. Uncle James can’t run that farm now without him.”
“Gussie is Aaron’s wife, she’s our teacher at the school,” Queen whispered to Rose.
“I brought those skins to the train, there were thirty of them at five dollars each, that’s one hundred and fifty dollars,” Sylvester added. “I’ll bring the money to the bank in Gainesville on Monday. I gave ten dollars to Roy, here, he’s been doing such a good job on that line.”
Roy nodded his head and smiled as everyone congratulated him.
Sylvester looked over to Beauty.
“Did you tell Mama about the Davis Brothers?” he asked.
“Tell me what?” Sarah asked, as she helped Charlene cut her food.
Happy frowned at her brother.
“You ought not tell her about that,” Happy told him. She added, “Mama, those boys are rude sometimes, like the other day with me and Beauty, and I took care of it. I’m just polite and ignore their bad manners like you taught us, but Sylvester here feels he should make more of it than it is. I wouldn’t have even told you and I don’t know why Brother here has to stick his nose in.”
“Oh, Sister, don’t be angry,” Beauty gasped at Happy’s last words.
“I’m only mad that he’s telling Mama, you know how she worries. You shouldn’t have told him.”
“Maybe you should be a little more worried about those boys treating you badly,” Sylvester told Happy, frowning. “I told them both I expect better manners from them when they speak to my sisters or I’ll be seeing them again.”
“Oh, Sylvester, you didn’t!” Sarah exclaimed.
“Nothing wrong with speaking up for my family, Mama,” he told her.
“You’re going to speak up once too often!” she replied. “Get yourself in a whole mess of trouble. Nobody over in Sumner wants to hear you come and threaten anybody, how you’re going to treat them if they bother your sisters. Everyone there respects this family, and if they don’t we don’t need to have any business with them. Those Davises, they’re barely scraping by with all those boys, lazy is what they are. I never see any of those children working, and their mother is like a worn out old rag. But they’re mean, and ignorant, and I won’t have you jeopardizing this family with your behavior! You hear me?”
“Mama, I’m not going to tolerate them harassing these girls.”
“You’ll tolerate what’s not truly harmful, you hear? No one was ever hurt by bad manners and name calling,” Sarah cried. “You listen to me.”
“Mama, don’t you think we’ve tolerated enough?” Sylvester roared, and everyone sat still, frightened by his yelling.
“Those people locked Daddy up for taking back his own cattle what they stole from him. He and I did six months apiece in a turpentine camp for that, and he was never well after. That’s probably what killed him. My own wife doesn’t want to live here in our house, this place is so backward, people staring at her because she’s so light. People here always asking her questions about her family. Boys with half the education and none of the manners we have speak to my sister, a grown woman, as if she was a sporting woman. How much am I supposed to ignore, Mama? How much?”
Sarah sat, eyes downcast, as Sylvester shouted. All the children were looking at Sylvester and Sarah, wondering what was wrong.
Rose sat stiff, frightened by Sylvester’s words and the look of anger on his face. Queen reached over and took her hand, pulling it over into her lap and stroking it, smiling at Rose until she finally smiled back.
Sarah looked up and looked around at all her children and grandchildren and kin. She drew a deep breath then released it in a long sigh.
“You’re angry and I understand that,” Sarah began. “But you’re wrong to care about what those people think or say.” She looked at her son, and he looked down at his plate as she continued to speak.
“This family has no reason to be ashamed,” she said. “Your father and I built this house and had our children, and I have some babies in the ground as well as those I have alive. Your father, I miss him every day. And yes he was unfairly treated, as were you, son. But he would tell you the same thing I’ll tell you.
“We have no reason to care about what those people think. We have a home, and food on the table, and one of my sisters has been to college from money this family earned. I hope to send some of these other children on to college one day. We should be proud of these things, but our pride is for the family. It doesn’t matter what other people think or say about us.”
Sylvester opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah continued.
“No, you listen. You’re the only son left to me. Don’t you risk what we’ve built here by being angry. Anger will do nothing but eat away at you and get you killed. Who’ll care for this family if you’re gone? I’m sixty-eight years old, son, how long do you think I’ll be around?”
Beauty cried out, “Oh Mama, don’t say that.”
Happy’s eyes teared and she looked away from the table, blinking to keep the tears from falling.
“If you let your anger drive you to vengeful talk and deeds, you won’t hurt those people,” Sarah went on. “You’ll hurt this family, and you’ll be taken from us, maybe killed by those people, but you will not hurt them. You only hurt us.”
“Mama, how much can a man take?” Sylvester asked, looking up at his mother, shaking his head.
“A whole lot more when he tries to be responsible, instead of angry. When he keeps his pride at home, with his family, where it belongs, instead of holding it out to the world, thinking those people will pay attention. They will, but not how you hope,” she added.
Sylvester looked back down at his plate, still shaking his head.
Happy stood and fled through the pantry door. Beauty followed her, calling out, “Sister, Sister, wait.”
“Now let’s stop scaring these babies,” Sarah said, “And eat up this good food. We are a blessed family, and the Lord willing, we’ll continue in our peaceful lives for a long time to come.”
“Amen,” added Sylvester.