© 2012 Phylicia Joannis
Jane spent the next day at home by herself. She had to clean the whole house, and her bottom was still sore from the spanking she’d received the day before. She was so mad at Bessie for getting her in trouble that she ripped the head off of Bessie’s favorite doll.
When Bessie came home from the bakery with their mama and found her doll, she cried and tattled.
Jane had a sore bottom again that evening.
It didn’t take long for Jane to realize that her mama would always side with Bessie. She didn’t see things Jane’s way at all. Everything was always about Bessie. Bessie danced so well. Bessie sung so well. Bessie was so beautiful. Bessie’s hair was so straight and easy to manage, not like Jane’s thick mane.
So Jane decided she needed to get rid of Bessie.
In the woods behind their house, hunters would dig deep holes to trap animals. Jane knew where one of those traps was hidden. She brought Bessie to the woods and told her they were going to play a game.
“Okay, you stand here, and I’ll stand here,” Jane instructed her sister to stand in front of a tree log.
“What’s this game called?” Bessie asked as she walked over to the log.
“It’s called tag,” Jane replied.
“Mama said we’re not sposed to be in the woods,” Bessie whined.
“Hush, chile,” Jane scolded her. “Little babies ain’t allowed in the woods, but we grown women, ain’t we?”
“I guess,” Bessie shrugged. “How do we play?”
“Well,” Jane stretched out the word. “You run in circles and I’ll try to catch you. I’m gonna count by this tree over here. When I start counting, you have to go over this log and start running around. Okay?”
Bessie scrunched her face. “Why can’t I run on the same side as you?”
Jane sighed. “Because you’re too slow, and I’ll catch you too quick.”
“Can I dance?” Bessie asked.
“What?” Jane rolled her eyes.
“Instead of running?” Bessie smiled. “Can I dance?”
Jane groaned. “Okay fine, you can dance, run, skip, however. Just make sure you go over this log, understand? That’s very important.”
“And can I hum?” Bessie began to hum.
“Fine!” Jane pushed her sister. “Just go and I’m gonna count over by this tree, okay?”
Bessie nodded and sat on the tree log, waiting for her sister to count.
Jane smiled as she walked to the tree. As soon as Bessie stepped over the log, she would fall into the trap.
Jane tripped over a tree root and stumbled into a bush. Her body crashed over a tree log hidden by the brush and she fell face first to the ground. Jane felt the dirt immediately give way and her body came crashing down into a pit. She landed with a thud and heard her wrist snap.
Jane had miscalculated the location of the trap.
“Jane! Jane!” Bessie called her sister’s name with no answer.
Jane lay at the bottom of the trap, her cries muffled by the walls of earth surrounding her. Her wrist was broken, and Jane felt such searing pain that she passed out.
When she came to, her sister was gone. The world above her was silent, and she was left alone. At first, Jane was angry because her sister had left her. But then, she felt ashamed. She’d come to the woods to trap her sister, and now she was the one who was trapped.
Night fell and Jane felt the walls closing in on her. Who knew what kind of wild animals were lurking above her, ready to have a young black girl for dinner?
Jane’s wrist was swollen and painful. There was no way for her to climb out, no way to call for help. It was getting cold, and if she wasn’t eaten first, she’d freeze to death, or get sick.
Jane’s stomach growled and she cried. She’d rather watch her sister Bessie dancing in the shop than be here alone and hungry with no hope of getting out.
Bessie had figured out that Jane was trying to trick her. That’s why no help was coming. Her mama would let her stay lost in the woods to punish her, because Bessie was her mama’s favorite.
Jane cried. It served her right for being so mean. She should have just let Bessie dance.
“Jane!”
Jane looked up. She heard a voice.
“Jane!”
It was her Uncle Abel! Jane called out “I’m here! I’m here!” and soon her Uncle Abel found her.
He had a whole team of men with him, and her mama, and together they got her out of the pit. As soon as Jane was out, her mama grabbed her in her arms and wrapped a blanket around her.
“Bessie told us you got lost in the woods,” her mama explained. “She tried to find you all by herself, and when she couldn’t, she finally came home and told us you were missing.”
“Where is Bessie?” Jane asked.
“She’s at home,” her mama replied. “It’s so cold out here, and she was coughing so bad we sent for the doctor.”
“Is she gonna be okay?” Jane asked.
Her mother didn’t answer.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Jane repeated the question.
“We need to get your wrist fixed up,” her mama nodded to Uncle Abel, who picked her up and took her home.
While Uncle Abel carried Jane in her arms, Jane prayed that her sister, Bessie, would be okay.
***
“The doctor set Jane’s wrist and gave Bessie medicine for her cough,” the Old Woman finished her story. “Jane and Bessie became best friends after that.”
“Isn’t that sweet?” the Complainer smiled sarcastically.
“That’s an awful story,” I frowned. “I don’t know how you could forgive your sister for something like that.”
“Something like what?” the Old Woman raised her eyebrows.
“Well, she tried to trap you in a pit,” I replied. “You could have died. I mean, it’s obvious from your story that you’re a very compassionate person. I could tell by the way you’ve tried to help all of us, especially that guy.”
I pointed to Dreadlock.
The Old Woman sighed. “I haven’t always been that way.”
“It seems that way from your story,” I shrugged.
The Old Woman chuckled. “That story was about my sister and me, but I’m not Bessie. I’m Jane.”
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