Uncle Tom's Children

by Richard Wright

  Big Boy put his head under the water and blew his breath. A sound came like that of a hippopotamus.

  “C mon, les be hippos.”

  Each went to a corner of the creek and put his mouth just below the surface and blew like a hippopotamus. Tiring, they came and sat under the embankment.

  “Look like Ah gotta chill.”

  “Me too.”

  “Les stay here n dry off.”

  “Jeeesus, Ahm col!”

  They kept still in the sun, suppressing shivers. After some of the water had dried off their bodies they began to talk through clattering teeth.

  “Whut would yuh do ef ol man Harveyd come erlong right now?”

  “Run like hell!”

  “Man, Ahd run so fas hed thinka black streaka lightnin shot pass im.”

  “But spose he hada gun?”

  “Aw, nigger, shut up!”

  They were silent. They ran their hands over wet, trembling legs, brushing water away. Then their eyes watched the sun sparkling on the restless creek.

  Far away a train whistled.

  “There goes number seven!”

  “Headin fer up Noth!”

  “Blazin it down the line!”

  “Lawd, Ahm goin Noth some day.”

  “Me too, man.”

  “They say colored folks up Noth is got ekual rights.”

  They grew pensive. A black winged butterfly hovered at the water’s edge. A bee droned. From somewhere came the sweet scent of honeysuckles. Dimly they could hear sparrows twittering in the woods. They rolled from side to side, letting sunshine dry their skins and warm their blood. They plucked blades of grass and chewed them.

  “Oh!”

  They looked up, their lips parting.

  “Oh!”

  A white woman, poised on the edge of the opposite embankment, stood directly in front of them, her hat in her hand and her hair lit by the sun.

  “Its a woman!” whispered Big Boy in an underbreath. “A white woman!”

  They stared, their hands instinctively covering their groins. Then they scrambled to their feet. The white woman backed slowly out of sight. They stood for a moment, looking at one another.

  “Les git outta here!” Big Boy whispered.

  “Wait till she goes erway.”

  “Les run, theyll ketch us here naked like this!”

  “Mabbe theres a man wid her.”

  “C mon, les git our cloes,” said Big Boy.

  They waited a moment longer, listening.

  “Whut t hell! Ahma git mah cloes,” said Big Boy.

  Grabbing at short tufts of grass, he climbed the embankment.

  “Don run out there now!”

  “C mon back, fool!”

  Bobo hesitated. He looked at Big Boy, and then at Buck and Lester.

  “Ahm goin wid Big Boy n git mah cloes,” he said.

  “Don run out there naked like tha, fool!” said Buck. “Yuh don know whos out there!”

  Big Boy was climbing over the edge of the embankment.

  “C mon,” he whispered.

  Bobo climbed after. Twenty-five feet away the woman stood. She had one hand over her mouth. Hanging by fingers, Buck and Lester peeped over the edge.

  “C mon back; that womans scared,” said Lester.

  Big Boy stopped, puzzled. He looked at the woman. He looked at the bundle of clothes. Then he looked at Buck and Lester.

  “C mon, les git our cloes!”

  He made a step.

  “Jim!” the woman screamed.

  Big Boy stopped and looked around. His hands hung loosely at his sides. The woman, her eyes wide, her hand over her mouth, backed away to the tree where their clothes lay in a heap.

  “Big Boy, come back n wait till shes gone!”

  Bobo ran to Big Boy’s side.

  “Les go home! Theyll ketch us here,” he urged.

  Big Boy’s throat felt tight.

  “Lady, we wanna git our cloes,” he said.

  Buck and Lester climbed the embankment and stood indecisively. Big Boy ran toward the tree.

  “Jim!” the woman screamed. “Jim! Jim!”

  Black and naked, Big Boy stopped three feet from her.

  “We wanna git our cloes,” he said again, his words coming mechanically.

  He made a motion.

  “You go away! You go away! I tell you, you go away!”

  Big Boy stopped again, afraid. Bobo ran and snatched the clothes. Buck and Lester tried to grab theirs out of his hands.

  “You go away! You go away! You go away!” the woman screamed.

  “Les go!” said Bobo, running toward the woods.

  CRACK!

  Lester grunted, stiffened, and pitched forward. His forehead struck a toe of the woman’s shoes.

  Bobo stopped, clutching the clothes. Buck whirled. Big Boy stared at Lester, his lips moving.

  “Hes gotta gun; hes gotta gun!” yelled Buck, running wildly.

  CRACK!

  Buck stopped at the edge of the embankment, his head jerked backward, his body arched stiffly to one side; he toppled headlong, sending up a shower of bright spray to the sunlight. The creek bubbled.

  Big Boy and Bobo backed away, their eyes fastened fearfully on a white man who was running toward them. He had a rifle and wore an army officer’s uniform. He ran to the woman’s side and grabbed her hand.

  “You hurt, Bertha, you hurt?”

  She stared at him and did not answer.

  The man turned quickly. His face was red. He raised the rifle and pointed it at Bobo. Bobo ran back, holding the clothes in front of his chest.

  “Don shoot me, Mistah, don shoot me…”

  Big Boy lunged for the rifle, grabbing the barrel.

  “You black sonofabitch!”

  Big Boy clung desperately.

  “Let go, you black bastard!”

  The barrel pointed skyward.

  CRACK!

  The white man, taller and heavier, flung Big Boy to the ground. Bobo dropped the clothes, ran up, and jumped onto the white man’s back.

  “You black sonsofbitches!”

  The white man released the rifle, jerked Bobo to the ground, and began to batter the naked boy with his fists. Then Big Boy swung, striking the man in the mouth with the barrel. His teeth caved in, and he fell, dazed. Bobo was on his feet.

  “C mon, Big Boy, les go!”

  Breathing hard, the white man got up and faced Big Boy. His lips were trembling, his neck and chin wet with blood. He spoke quietly.

  “Give me that gun, boy!”

  Big Boy leveled the rifle and backed away.

  The white man advanced.

  “Boy, I say give me that gun!”

  Bobo had the clothes in his arms.

  “Run, Big Boy, run!”

  The man came at Big Boy.

  “Ahll kill yuh; Ahll kill yuh!” said Big Boy.

  His fingers fumbled for the trigger.

  The man stopped, blinked, spat blood. His eyes were bewildered. His face whitened. Suddenly, he lunged for the rifle, his hands outstretched.

  CRACK!

  He fell forward on his face.

  “Jim!”

  Big Boy and Bobo turned in surprise to look at the woman.

  “Jim!” she screamed again, and fell weakly at the foot of the tree.

  Big Boy dropped the rifle, his eyes wide. He looked around. Bobo was crying and clutching the clothes.

  “Big Boy, Big Boy…”

  Big Boy looked at the rifle, started to pick it up, but didn’t. He seemed at a loss. He looked at Lester, then at the white man; his eyes followed a thin stream of blood that seeped to the ground.

  “Yuh done killed im,” mumbled Bobo.

  “Les go home!”

  Naked, they turned and ran toward the woods. When they reached the barbed-wire fence they stopped.

  “Les git our cloes on,” said Big Boy.

  They slipped quickly into overalls. Bobo held Lester’s and Buck’s clothes.

&nb
sp; “Whut we gonna do wid these?”

  Big Boy stared. His hands twitched.

  “Leave em.”

  They climbed the fence and ran through the woods. Vines and leaves switched their faces. Once Bobo tripped and fell.

  “C mon!” said Big Boy.

  Bobo started crying, blood streaming from his scratches.

  “Ahm scared!”

  “C mon! Don cry! We wanna git home fo they ketches us!”

  “Ahm scared!” said Bobo again, his eyes full of tears.

  Big Boy grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

  “C mon!”

  III

  They stopped when they got to the end of the woods. They could see the open road leading home, home to ma and pa. But they hung back, afraid. The thick shadows cast from the trees were friendly and sheltering. But the wide glare of sun stretching out over the fields was pitiless. They crouched behind an old log.

  “We gotta git home,” said Big Boy.

  “Theys gonna lynch us,” said Bobo, half-questioningly.

  Big Boy did not answer.

  “Theys gonna lynch us,” said Bobo again.

  Big Boy shuddered.

  “Hush!” he said. He did not want to think of it. He could not think of it; there was but one thought, and he clung to that one blindly. He had to get home, home to ma and pa.

  Their heads jerked up. Their ears had caught the rhythmic jingle of a wagon. They fell to the ground and clung flat to the side of a log. Over the crest of the hill came the top of a hat. A white face. Then shoulders in a blue shirt. A wagon drawn by two horses pulled into full view.

  Big Boy and Bobo held their breath, waiting. Their eyes followed the wagon till it was lost in dust around a bend of the road.

  “We gotta git home,” said Big Boy.

  “Ahm scared,” said Bobo.

  “C mon! Les keep t the fields.”

  They ran till they came to the cornfields. Then they went slower, for last year’s corn stubbles bruised their feet.

  They came in sight of a brickyard.

  “Wait a minute,” gasped Big Boy.

  They stopped.

  “Ahm goin on t mah home n yuh better go on t yos.”

  Bobo’s eyes grew round.

  “Ahm scared!”

  “Yuh better go on!”

  “Lemme go wid yuh; theyll ketch me…”

  “Ef yuh kin git home mabbe yo folks kin hep yuh t git erway.”

  Big Boy started off. Bobo grabbed him.

  “Lemme go wid yuh!”

  Big Boy shook free.

  “Ef yuh stay here theys gonna lynch yuh!” he yelled, running.

  After he had gone about twenty-five yards he turned and looked; Bobo was flying through the woods like the wind.

  Big Boy slowed when he came to the railroad. He wondered if he ought to go through the streets or down the track. He decided on the tracks. He could dodge a train better than a mob.

  He trotted along the ties, looking ahead and back. His cheek itched, and he felt it. His hand came away smeared with blood. He wiped it nervously on his overalls.

  When he came to his back fence he heaved himself over. He landed among a flock of startled chickens. A bantam rooster tried to spur him. He slipped and fell in front of the kitchen steps, grunting heavily. The ground was slick with greasy dishwater.

  Panting, he stumbled through the doorway.

  “Lawd, Big Boy, whuts wrong wid yuh?”

  His mother stood gaping in the middle of the floor. Big Boy flopped wordlessly onto a stool, almost toppling over. Pots simmered on the stove. The kitchen smelled of food cooking.

  “Whuts the matter, Big Boy?”

  Mutely, he looked at her. Then he burst into tears. She came and felt the scratches on his face.

  “Whut happened t yuh, Big Boy? Somebody been botherin yuh?”

  “They after me, Ma! They after me…”

  “Who!”

  “Ah… Ah… We…”

  “Big Boy, whuts wrong wid yuh?”

  “He killed Lester n Buck,” he muttered simply.

  “Killed!”

  “Yessum.”

  “Lester n Buck!”

  “Yessum, Ma!”

  “How killed?”

  “He shot em, Ma!”

  “Lawd Gawd in Heaven, have mercy on us all! This is mo trouble, mo trouble,” she moaned, wringing her hands.

  “N Ah killed im, Ma…”

  She stared, trying to understand.

  “Whut happened, Big Boy?”

  “We tried t git our cloes from the tree…”

  “Whut tree?”

  “We wuz swimmin, Ma. N the white woman…”

  “White woman?…”

  “Yessum. She wuz at the swimmin hole…”

  “Lawd have mercy! Ah knowed yuh boys wuz gonna keep on till yuh got into somethin like this!”

  She ran into the hall.

  “Lucy!”

  “Mam?”

  “C mere!”

  “Mam?”

  “C mere, Ah say!”

  “Whutcha wan, Ma? Ahm sewin.”

  “Chile, will yuh c mere like Ah ast yuh?”

  Lucy came to the door holding an unfinished apron in her hands. When she saw Big Boy’s face she looked wildly at her mother.

  “Whuts the matter?”

  “Wheres Pa?”

  “Hes out front, Ah reckon.”

  “Git im, quick!”

  “Whuts the matter, Ma?”

  “Go git yo Pa, Ah say!”

  Lucy ran out. The mother sank into a chair, holding a dish rag. Suddenly, she sat up.

  “Big Boy, Ah thought yuh wuz at school?”

  Big Boy looked at the floor.

  “How come yuh didnt go t school?”

  “We went t the woods.”

  She sighed.

  “Ah done done all Ah kin fer yuh, Big Boy. Only Gawd kin hep yuh now.”

  “Ma, don let em git me; don let em git me…”

  His father came into the doorway. He stared at Big Boy, then at his wife.

  “Whuts Big Boy inter now?” he asked sternly.

  “Saul, Big Boys done gone n got inter trouble wid the white folks.”

  The old man’s mouth dropped, and he looked from one to the other.

  “Saul, we gotta git im erway from here.”

  “Open yo mouth n talk! Whut yuh been doin?” The old man gripped Big Boy’s shoulders and peered at the scratches on his face.

  “Me n Lester n Buck n Bobo wuz out on ol man Harveys place swimmin…”

  “Saul, its a white woman!”

  Big Boy winced. The old man compressed his lips and stared at his wife. Lucy gaped at her brother as though she had never seen him before.

  “Whut happened? Cant yuh-all talk?” the old man thundered, with a certain helplessness in his voice.

  “We wuz swimmin,” Big Boy began, “n then a white woman comes up t the hole. We got up right erway t git our cloes sos we could git erway, n she started screamin. Our cloes wuz right by the tree where she wuz standin, n when we started t git em she jus screamed. We tol her we wanted our cloes… Yuh see, Pa, she wuz standin right by our cloes; n when we went t git em she jus screamed… Bobo got the cloes, n then he shot Lester…”

  “Who shot Lester?”

  “The white man.”

  “Whut white man?”

  “Ah dunno, Pa. He wuz a soljer, n he had a rifle.”

  “A soljer?”

  “Yessuh.”

  “A soljer?”

  “Yessuh, Pa. A soljer.”

  The old man frowned.

  “N then whut yuh-all do?”

  “Waal, Buck said, ‘Hes gotta gun!’ N we started runnin. N then he shot Buck, n he fell in the swimmin hole. We didn’t see im no mo… He wuz close on us then. He looked at the white woman n then he started to shoot Bobo. Ah grabbed the gun, n we started fightin. Bobo jumped on his back. He started beatin Bobo. Then Ah hit im wid the gun. Then he started at me n
Ah shot im. Then we run…”

  “Who seen?”

  “Nobody.”

  “Wheres Bobo?”

  “He went home.”

  “Anybody run after yuh-all?”

  “Nawsuh.”

  “Yuh see anybody?”

  “Nawsuh. Nobody but a white man. But he didnt see us.”

  “How long fo yuh-all lef the swimmin hole?”

  “Little while ergo.”

  The old man nervously brushed his hand across his eyes and walked to the door. His lips moved, but no words came.

  “Saul, whut we gonna do?”

  “Lucy,” began the old man, “go t Brother Sanders n tell im Ah said c mere; n go t Brother Jenkins n tell im Ah said c mere; n go t Elder Peters n tell im Ah said c mere. N don say nothin t nobody but whut Ah tol yuh. N when yuh git thu come straight back. Now go!”

  Lucy dropped her apron across the back of a chair and ran down the steps. The mother bent over, crying and praying. The old man walked slowly over to Big Boy.

  “Big Boy?”

  Big Boy swallowed.

  “Ahm talkin t yuh!”

  “Yessuh.”

  “How come yuh didnt go t school this mawnin?”

  “We went t the woods.”

  “Didnt yo ma send yuh t school?”

  “Yessuh.”

  “How come yuh didnt go?”

  “We went t the woods.”

  “Don yuh know thas wrong?”

  “Yessuh.”

  “How come yuh go?”

  Big Boy looked at his fingers, knotted them, and squirmed in his seat.

  “AHM TALKIN T YUH!”

  His wife straightened up and said reprovingly:

  “Saul!”

  The old man desisted, yanking nervously at the shoulder straps of his overalls.

  “How long wuz the woman there?”

  “Not long.”

  “Wuz she young?”

  “Yessuh. Lika gal.”

  “Did yuh-all say anythin t her?”

  “Nawsuh. We jus said we wanted our cloes.”

  “N whut she say?”

  “Nothin, Pa. She jus backed erway t the tree n screamed.”

  The old man stared, his lips trying to form a question.

  “Big Boy, did yuh-all bother her?”

  “Nawsuh, Pa. We didn’t touch her.”

  “How long fo the white man come up?”

  “Right erway.”

  “Whut he say?”

  “Nothin. He jus cussed us.”

  Abruptly the old man left the kitchen.

  “Ma, cant Ah go fo they ketches me?”

  “Sauls doin whut he kin.”

  “Ma, Ma, Ah don wan em t ketch me…”

  “Sauls doin whut he kin. Nobody but the good Lawd kin hep us now.”