Through Her Lives

Mary

United States of America, 1809

It was Mary's first day as a slave on the rice plantation and the others girls that were sitting sewing thought she would be an easy target to do the hard labour. 

They were wrong.

 She scrubbed harder, taking her anger out on the steps of the main house. In so many ways Mary was unique from her ability to read to her constant strength and determination, like all humans. But, all the white people saw was her black hair, dark skin and brown eyes and therefore she was to be no more than a slave all her life and to own nothing. 

She had been scrubbing the outside stairs for the last five hours and it wasn't getting any cleaner. Her back ached, she was sweating badly, and desperately needed a drink of water. As she straightened up to stretch her back out, the governess walked over to her screeching.

"You are not to stop scrubbing until those steps are clean." The governess spat out, panting from the corset taut around her bust, her hoop skirt dragged on the ground as she marched over. Mary glanced over at the other girls who were all sitting on the veranda sewing clothes and her tempered flared.

"Why can I not sew clothes?" Mary demanded with a defiant spark in her eyes. The girls hadn't been able to look her in the eye all morning. She was being treated worse than the other slaves and they knew it.

"You do as you are told. Now get back to work or no one will want you here." The governess was angry with the new labourer  her chest heaving more as she raised her voice. It was wrong of a black girl to challenge let alone defy her.

The other girls were quietly watching the proceedings with nervous interest.

"Well, I'm not here to make friends." and with a smirk she walked over to the veranda and sat down. She grabbed on the the needles that was spare and a pile of cloth, she didn't really know what she was doing but she wasn't going to be treated unfairly. She was angry and kept poking herself in the finger with the needle but after a few minutes, she glanced over at the stairs that she had left abandoned and noticed the governess had gone inside. The governess looked angry as she sat inside drinking iced tea. Mary knew she was in for a beating when the old Major Thales returned.