The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Read Online Free

hearts, too.”
    “That couldn’t be helped,” Unc Isom said. “This can be helped.”
    “This can’t be helped,” somebody young said. “They got blood on this place, and I done stepped all in it. I done waded in it to my waist. You can mend a broken heart, you can’t wash blood off your body.”
    “Hold,” Unc Isom said, raising his hands again. “When you talking ’bout mama and papa’s heart, hold now.”
    “Mama and papa’s heart can’t be pained no more than they been pained already,” somebody young said.
    “Let’s go,” somebody else said. “All this arguing ain’t putting us no closer North.”
    “Hold,” Unc Isom said. “This wisdom I’m speaking from. Hold now.”
    “Give your wisdom to the ones staying here with you,” somebody young said. “Rest of us moving out.”
    The boy who spoke to Unc Isom like that started up the quarters toward the big house. Unc Isom let him walk a little piece, then he hollered at him to stop. The boy wouldn’t stop. Unc Isom hollered at him again. This time the boy looked back over his shoulder. Unc Isom didn’t say a thing, he just stood there pointing his finger at the boy.
    Me and some of the other people started toward the big house to get some apples, and one of the women said Unc Isom had put bad mark on the boy. Another woman said Unc Isom didn’t have power to put bad mark on you no more, he was too old now. I didn’t know how powerful Unc Isom was, so I just listened to the talking and didn’t say nothing.
    The master had put a barrel of potatoes side the barrel of apples, and he was sitting on the gallery watching the people coming back in the yard. He asked us what we had decided in the quarters. We told him some of us was going, some of us was staying. Weasked him could the ones going take anything. He wanted to tell us no, but he nodded toward the barrel and told us to take what we needed and get out. We got all the apples and potatoes we could carry, then we went back to the quarters to get our clothes. In slavery you had two dresses and a pair of shoes and a coat. A man had an extra pair of pants and an extra shirt, a pair of shoes and a coat. We tied up the apples and potatoes in our extra clothes and started out.

Heading North
    We didn’t know a thing. We didn’t know where we was going, we didn’t know what we was go’n eat when the apples and potatoes ran out, we didn’t know where we was go’n sleep that night. If we reached the North, we didn’t know if we was go’n stay together or separate. We had never thought about nothing like that, because we had never thought we was go’n ever be free. Yes, we had heard about freedom, we had even talked about freedom, but we never thought we was go’n ever see that day. Even when we knowed the Yankees had come in the State, even when we saw them marching by the gate we still didn’t feel we was go’n ever be free. That’s why we hadn’t got ourself ready. When the word came down that we was free, we dropped everything and started out.
    It was hot. Must have been May or June. Probably June—but I’m not sure. We went across the cotton patch toward the swamps. The young men and boys started breaking down cotton stalks just to show Old Master what they thought of him and his old slavery. Somebody hollered that they better use their strength to get some corn, and we all shot out for the corn patch across the field.
    Now, when we came up to the swamps nobody wanted to take the lead. Nobody wanted to be the oneblamed for getting everybody else lost. All us just standing there fumbling round, waiting for somebody else to take charge.
    Then somebody in the back said, “Move out the way.” I looked, and that was Big Laura. She was big just like her name say, and she was tough as any man I ever seen. She could plow, chop wood, cut and load much cane as any man on the place. She had two children. One in her arms, a little girl; and she was leading Ned by the hand. Don’t worry,