“Lemme out! Lemme out!” Eubie beat against wooden lid, but his efforts were of no use; the heavy cover wouldn’t budge. Through the large brass key hole, he was able to see Speck rummage through several huge sacks. Pirate booty Eubie thought as his imagination got the better of him. To ease some of his fear,he pretended to be a character in one of Miss Porterhouse’s stories – a hunter hiding in the bush waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting beastie in some inhospitable land. Eventually, the lengthy minutes turned to hours and Eubie drifted off to sleep dreaming of frolicking in the African sun. When the Spectorium jolted to a stop, he awoke.
There was no way to tell just how much time had passed, and the lack of fresh air kept Eubie’s mind dancing on the African plain. When Speck finally raised the lid, he cautiously climbed out with an unsteady gait. “You wanted out? Be my guest,” Speck said holding the wagon door wide open. When Eubie’s eyes finally adjusted to the light, he peered outside to find a never-ending road stretching in both directions. He had no idea where he was and there were no signs of life except for several large black birds waiting to pounce on anything that moved. The foreboding sight quickly brought him back to his senses.
“I wanna go home.”
“Home?” Speck taunted. “You weren’t concerned about home when curiosity landed you at my front door, were you?” Eubie remembered the Hoodoo Lady’s words about finding freedom and not really being free. Once again, the hairs on the back of his neck rose in alarm. “You wanted something to believe in, and I gave it to you,” Speck said with nary a hint of apology in his voice. “It made no difference how long you believed that there was something horrible in that box. For that one moment you did and got exactly what you paid for.”
Although he had his mother’s calm and his father’s resolve, Eubie realized that if panic set in, he would not be able tomake clear decisions. He would have taken his chances on the road with the black birds, but there was no telling who or what might be lurking. I’m doomed he thought leaning backinside to find Speck still rummaging around in his bags of ill-gotten goods. For the first time, Eubie started to cry. Speck stopped what he was doing. “Quit your snivelin’. You don’t have it nearly half as bad as I did when I was a wee one.” Other than losing one’s life, Eubie couldn’t imagine what could be worse than losing one’s freedom. But much to Eubie’s surprise, his captor’s ill-fated birth did prove to be much worse.
***
Speck had the unfortunate circumstance of being born no bigger than a newt. His mother said that he was a gift from the fairies, but his father cursed him at first breath. Because his mother wanted him to grow big and strong, she’d sometimes skimp on her own food and that of his brothers and sisters. This favoritism did not go unnoticed. In a family of eleven, portions were measured in the blink of an eye and not forgotten. As aresult, Speck’s siblingsthought it their duty to make him the object of their failings and ill will. When his family realized that he wasn’t going to get any bigger, they eventually ignored him – everyone that is, except his father.
“The sod me mum married drank away what little money we had,” Speck said. “When the bills came due, it was his custom to parade me around from tavern to tavern making me dance a jig or any other embarrassing performance that would bring in a shilling or two. To give me a fightin’ chance in life, me mum sold me as an indentured servant to a couple bound for America.” Speck slumped down on the floor as if the weight of his story was too much to bear.
It never occurred to Eubie that folks other than blacks could be sold into slavery. What he couldn’t understand that if Speck knew what it was like, then why would he want to capture someone else?
