United States or Ecuador ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"I want to, but oh, I can't, I can't," she wailed. "Please go now, Be'y, befo' he gits home. He 's mad anyhow, 'cause you 're out." Berry looked at her hard, and then said in a dry voice, "An' so I got to go an' leave you to him?" "Yes, you mus'; I 'm his'n now."
The great sobs came up and stuck in his throat. She crept up to him fearfully and laid her hand on his head. "Don't cry, Be'y," she said; "I done wrong, but I loves you yit." He seized her in his arms and held her tightly until he could control himself. Then he asked weakly, "Well, what am I goin' to do?" "I do' know, Be'y, 'ceptin' dat you 'll have to leave me." "I won't!
Her mother dropped her head in her hands. "All right," she said, "I 'll do it; I 'll ma'y him. I might as well go de way both my chillen 's gone. Po' Be'y, po' Be'y. Ef you evah do come out, Gawd he'p you to baih what you 'll fin'." And Mrs. Hamilton rose and tottered from the room, as if the old age she anticipated had already come upon her.
"Why, is you 'shamed o' me?" he asked brokenly. "'Shamed? No! Oh, Be'y," and she sank into a chair and began rocking to and fro in her helpless grief. "What 's de mattah, Fannie? Ain't you glad to see me?" "Yes, yes, but you don't know nothin', do you? Dey lef' me to tell you?" "Lef' you to tell me? What 's de mattah? Is Joe or Kit daid? Tell me." "No, not daid.
Kit dances on de stage fu' a livin', an', Be'y, she ain't de gal she ust to be. Joe Joe Joe he 's in pen'tentiary fu' killin' a ooman." Berry started forward with a cry, "My Gawd! my Gawd! my little gal! my boy!" "Dat ain't all," she went on dully, as if reciting a rote lesson; "I ain't yo' wife no mo'. I 's ma'ied ag'in. Oh Be'y, Be'y, don't look at me lak dat. I could n't he'p it.
"Dey sha'n't do no mo', by Gawd! dey sha'n't, I say!" His voice had risen to a fierce roar, like that of a hurt beast, and he shook her by the arm as he spoke. "Oh, don't, Be'y, don't, you hu't me. I could n't he'p it." He glared at her for a moment, and then the real force of the situation came full upon him, and he bowed his head in his hands and wept like a child.
Kit an' Joe lef' me, an' dey said de pen'tentiary divo'ced you an' me, an' dat you 'd nevah come out nohow. Don't look at me lak dat, Be'y." "You ain't my wife no mo'? Hit 's a lie, a damn lie! You is my wife. I 's a innocent man. No pen'tentiay kin tek you erway f'om me. Hit 's enough what dey 've done to my chillen." He rushed forward and seized her by the arm.
I 'll never leave you again," he replied doggedly. "But, Be'y, you mus'. You 'll only mek it ha'der on me, an' Gibson 'll beat me ag'in." "Ag'in!" She hung her head: "Yes." He gripped himself hard. "Why cain't you come on off wid me, Fannie? You was mine fus'." "I could n't. He would fin' me anywhaih I went to." "Let him fin' you. You 'll be wid me, an' we 'll settle it, him an' me."
She shrank away from him, back in the hall-way. "Yes, yes, Be'y, I knows you. Come in." She led him through the passage-way and into her room, he following with a sudden sinking at his heart. This was not the reception he had expected from Fannie. When they were within the room he turned and held out his arms to her again, but she did not notice them.
"He say dat I ain't noways ma'ied to my po' husban', dat a pen'tentiary sentence is de same as a divo'ce, an' if Be'y should live to git out, we 'd have to ma'y ag'in. I would n't min' dat, Kit, but he say dat at Be'y's age dey ain't much chanst of his livin' to git out, an' hyeah I 'll live all dis time alone, an' den have no one to tek keer o' me w'en I git ol'. He wants me to ma'y him, Kit.
Word Of The Day