1868
I was born in Kansas City, which is not even in Kansas. A fact that perturbed my inner balance for the entirety of my 17 years and continues to irk me today. One day, during my 7th year, Daddy gained a sudden interest in getting a job. He wasn't a man much taken to the idea of work, so much as he found solace in the bottle. Regardless, he had taken the itch to become "a real father" as he called it, and proclaimed that Chicago would be the city to change our fate. He told Momma about factory jobs, and public schools, and tenements with real hardwood floors. Momma was skeptical and said she would miss the dirt floor of our small 2 room house. But, she was willing to try as long as Daddy promised to quit the drink. Of Course he promised. I was only 7, but I knew there was no good reason to ever covet a dirt floor and was interested in the prospect of a better life. However, I also knew that Daddy had rarely taken interest in providing for his family, so it was reasonable to suspect perfidious intentions on his part.
When we left Missouri Momma was as big as a steer with her belly holding in a new "surprise" baby. This new child was just a burden that Momma had convinced herself would have a positive outcome. On the day we left Daddy was in his natural state pulling on a bottle of corn whisky, Momma was crying, and my older brothers were attempting to hold in their sadness by pestering one another. I felt like I was looking at all of them from afar. I held my best hen in my arms and just waited to be told what to do next.
The man who picked up the 5 of us was named Mr. Simeon. He smelled like sweat, dirty nappies, and alcohol. Daddy liked him. Momma said the smell of him made her stomach turn and twice when she rode alongside him she vomited. My brothers were indifferent. Mr. Simeon said my hen could not ride in the wagon because "hens shit wherever they are called." I threw myself to the ground screaming, pounding the Earth in one of my best fits when Daddy took her from my arms. He grabbed her by the neck, swung her once round his head, then let her fly dead to the dirt.
The road to Chicago was long. It rained often and we ran out of food on the second day. Momma took to laying atop corn sacks and crying. Daddy and Mr. Simeon sat at the front jabbering about the fortunes they would inevitably make. My brother Cecil, the oldest by twice my age, kept a keen eye on the road behind. Paedon, 12 ,had seemed to have accepted some of my anger and refused to speak or ride in the wagon. He and I walked sullenly and silent alongside the big wheels.
Chicago was not better than Kansas City, Missouri. Daddy found us a place to stay on the commitment he would find work within one week and more importantly the pity that his wife was near to giving birth. The floor to our tenement was not dirt, although it may as well have been. There were large gaps in the wood flooring. Each gap was stuffed with dirt and crumbs. The tenement was loud and at night we could hear babies cry, women screaming, and fights on the street. Chicago smelled foul and unnatural.
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Payback
General Fiction"Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him."
