The Sharecropper Prodigy

by Malone, David Lee

  “What’s the matter Ben? Is there trouble out at your place?” Mr. Winston asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

  “It’s Miss Rachel, sir. She’s been hurt bad. We have to get her to a doctor quick.”

  “Where is she now?” Winston asked.

  “In the back of our wagon, sir. I drove her over here as fast as I could get our old mule to run. She may need a hospital instead of a doctor. I don’t know exactly how bad she’s hurt.”

  Winston had already started running to the door. He hurried out to the wagon and saw his beautiful daughter laying on the loose cotton that still remained in the back. He saw she was naked from the waist down and that her blouse was torn and her breasts exposed. When he saw the swollen face and the blood on her thighs, he immediately began sobbing. He could tell what had happened to her and his feelings kept going from getting her help as fast as he could, to rage for whoever had done this to her.

  “Get my car and bring it around here quick, Ben. The keys are in it. Nobody but he and Rachel had ever been allowed to drive his car. It was his pride and joy, but right now it meant nothing to him as he kept looking at his daughter and sobbing.

  Ben fired up the engine and pulled the car right up to the back of the wagon. He and Winston gingerly lifted Rachel’s battered and limp body out of the wagon and laid her down in the back seat of the car. Then Winston yelled for Ben to get in. The car took off like it had been shot out of a cannon, Winston slinging rocks all over his manicured lawn as soon as the car hit the gravel driveway.

  When they had gotten on the main road to Collinwood, Winston finally asked Ben what had happened. Ben hesitated for a moment before he spoke.

  “It was Rube, sir. He’s the one who did it.”

  “Your papa? What did he do?” as if that question needed to be asked.

  “I’ll never call him my papa again as long as I live,” Ben said through clenched teeth. “He raped her, Mr. Winston. He raped her and he beat her.”

  “Where is he now?” Winston asked.

  “I got him tied to a tree near the old tenet house that burned a few years back. If I hadn’t gotten there when I did…..” Ben paused for a minute, looking back at Rachel, making sure she was still holding on. “I heard what I thought was a scream down in the woods. I grabbed a hoe handle and ran down there, thinking Rube might be after Nellie. I knew he’d been drinkin’ a lot. I followed the trail through the woods where he’d dragged her and finally found them. He was sitting on top of her with a knife in his hand. I believe he was going to kill her and throw her down in the old well, to try to cover up what he’d done to her. I cracked him over the head a few times with the hoe handle, then tied him up good. Then I went and got the mule and wagon.”

  “Well, you saved her life, son. Or at least if she pulls through you did. I want you to know how much I appreciate it. But when I get my hands on that worthless daddy of yours, I will probably kill him.”

  “You’ll have to get to him before I do,” Ben said

  *****

  When Doctor Killian got Rachel properly sedated, he saw that most of her injuries were superficial, other than the tearing of her vaginal area from the violent rape. She had some loose teeth where Rube had smashed her in the mouth, and a minor concussion. The cuts and bruises would take some time to heal. What he was most concerned with was her mental state. She was definitely in shock, and judging from her demeanor, he had no answer for how long it would take her recover from the toll the savage attack had taken on her psychologically. Doctor Killian said it would take a lot of time and patience, and especially love.

  “She’s not gonna be the same girl for quite a while,” he told George. “She’s gonna need lots of rest, and there are probably times when she will want to be left alone. The best thing to do in those circumstances is to honor her wishes. She’s lucky young Ben got there when he did, or it would have been much worse. He would probably have killed her.”

  The doctor looked at Ben, wondering what his mental state must be right now. His own father had just raped and brutally beaten the young lady who was better to him than anyone else on earth. Doc Killian knew about how Rachel had always cared for Ben and spent her own money to buy him books. She had confided in the doctor and questioned him on how a young negro boy, who had everything working against him, could retain knowledge so effortlessly and had such a burning desire to learn.

  “When can I take her home? George asked.

  “I’d like to have the ambulance take her to the hospital in Gadsden and have some x-rays done just to make sure she don’t have any broken bones or internal bleeding. I’m pretty sure she has neither one, but we need to be sure. They may want to keep her a day or so. That will be up to them. I had my nurse call and they are sending an ambulance now. They should be here almost any time.” The doctor paused for a moment. “George, she’s gonna need somebody with her almost all the time around the clock for a few days. I know you’re a busy man, so you might want to get one of the ladies from the church, or else hire somebody to help you.” He lit a cigarette and continued, “I know you want to punish the man who did this to her. But you need to concentrate on bein’ there for her right now. Let the sheriff handle that. My nurse has already called him and told him what happened. He’s on his way now to the place Ben said he had him restrained.”

  *****

  Ben rode with George Winston to the Holy Name of Jesus hospital, about twenty miles away in Gadsden. Not a word was spoken between them for the first few miles. Ben was looking out the window, watching the trees and power poles go by. He turned to George, “Mr. Winston. I would sure appreciate it if you would let me be the one to stay with Miss Rachel. She’s been better to me than anybody on God’s earth, and I want to watch after her.”

  “Son, you saved her life. That’s payment enough. A woman is probably what she needs to…….”

  “I promise, sir, there ain’t no lady in the world, black or white, that will take better care of her than me. As for payment, I could never live long enough to pay her back for all she’s done for me.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Rube Evans wrists had deep, bloody gashes where he’d struggled trying to free himself from the bondage his son had put him in. He had almost been like one of those animals caught in a steel trap that chews its own leg off. The back of his overalls were worn almost completely through from pushing himself up and down against the rough bark of the red oak tree. By the time the sheriff found him, he was worn completely out and his mouth felt as dry as a box of powder. Sheriff Tucker and one of his deputies held their pistols on Rube as another deputy cut the blood soaked rope from his wrists.

  “Now, Rube. Don’t you try to give us no trouble,” the sheriff said. “If you do, we’ll shoot you ‘fore you have time to blink. You understand me?”

  Rube didn’t speak. He just nodded his head. A head that was pounding from two hard blows from a thick hoe handle made of seasoned hickory. Rube’s daughter, Nellie, was standing a few feet behind the sheriff. She had come with them to show them where the old shack had once stood. Nellie had ambivalent emotions about the sight of the man before her. On one hand, she was glad he was going someplace where he’d never be able to bother her again. But at the same time, he was her papa, and her mama’s husband. As a father, about the only thing he had contributed was the seed that created her and her brothers. He had provided a meager living for them, although she and her brothers did most of the work. As a husband, he’d given his wife seven children that she loved, but that almost killed her. Nellie didn’t know if there had ever been any love between Rube and Evergreen or not. Maybe at the very beginning. That was what she was going to believe, anyway.

  Nellie didn’t know what would become of her, her brothers, and her mama, but she couldn’t imagine things being any worse than they already were. In fact, she didn’t see how they could help but be better off. She watched in silence as the deputies led him away in chains. She felt like she should be showing some emotion, but feare
d that if she allowed herself to, it would manifest itself as joy, and not sorrow. She turned and walked back toward home. There were chores to do and babies to take care of.

  *****

  Rube was locked away in the county jail. The jail was empty except for one old hobo that had been caught stealing some sardines and crackers from the A&P. The sheriff knew the man was hungry and had locked him up mainly to see that he got a good meal before sending him on his way. The sheriff told Rube he would go before the judge on Monday morning and that he would call Doctor Killian to have a look at his wrists. Rube remained silent and just sat down on the little cot, staring down at the floor at his old worn out boots.

  The sheriff closed the door that separated the jail cells from his office and nodded to his deputies, motioning for them to walk over to his desk.

  “Boys, there’s gonna be trouble once the word gits out about what happened. ‘Specially when they find out it was Rachel Winston that Rube raped. Them Klan boys ain’t gonna want to wait for no trial. We can’t leave old Pete here by hisself at night ‘til this thang is over with.” Pete Hawkins was the nighttime jailer and usually the only one around after ten P.M.

  “Well, there ain’t but six of us deputies that’s full time, Oscar,” Harold Cox said. “We got three part time volunteers but there usually always workin’. If them boys bring a big mob, what would we do?”

  “Maybe I can talk some sense into ‘em,” the sheriff answered. “If not we will have to git some help from the police and maybe see if we can git some deputies from Cherokee county to help us, or recruit some more volunteers.”

  “Yeah, but who in the hell is gonna volunteer knowin’ there might be a mob of Klansmen fixin’ to come hang a nigger and ain’t about to let nobody stop ‘em? And it ain’t gonna be just local Klan, either. Word will git out quick on something this big. There ain’t nothing like this ever happened around here. There’ll be Klan comin’ from everywhere once the word spreads. And it’ll spread like wildfire, Oscar. You know that as well as I do.”

  The sheriff sat down in his chair and sipped his coffee. He knew Harold was exactly right. Somehow he was going to have to think of something real fast. Another one of the deputies snapped his fingers, indicating he had a bright idea.

  “Why don’t we just move him to another jail? Maybe take him to the city jail in Gadsden or even Birmingham? The deputy suggested.

  The sheriff looked at him and shook his head. “First of all, John, they’d tell us to go straight to hell if we even hinted at it. They don’t want a damned big mob of Klan comin’ to their jail and endangerin’ their citizens any more than we do.”

  “What if they don’t know where we took him?” John asked, with a dejected look on his face because his idea had been shot down so quickly.

  “They’d find out. Hell, a fourth of the deputies in Alabama are prob’ly Klan. If our county wasn’t so broke right now, we could afford to pay more deputies. Maybe we can talk the state police into sendin’ us some help. Hell, we might have to call in the army.”

  *****

  Ben and Mr. Winston had moved Rachel’s bed next to the window so she could see outside. She had only spoken a few words since they had brought her home, and Mr. Winston was beginning to worry. She wasn’t eating enough to keep a bird alive and slept most of the time. But it wasn’t restful sleep. It was filled with nightmares of that terrible day. Only in her dreams, it wasn’t always Rube who attacked her. Sometimes it was Ben, sometimes Mr. Beene, her science teacher, and once it had even been her papa. She would sometimes awake and see Ben or her papa sitting in the rocking chair beside her and let out a muffled scream, as if she were scared to death of them.

  Ben would not contemplate anything other than her full recovery. He had requested from Mr. Winston every book on psychology he could get his hands on. Mr. Winston had done everything he could to grant Ben’s requests. There were piles of thick books on the subject scattered all over Rachel’s bedroom. Ben was reading constantly, trying to find answers. The human mind was a complicated subject. Rachel’s problems couldn’t be solved by some mathematical formula. It was going to take experimentation such as Ben had never done before, and most of all, patience and love. The last two were the easy part.

  After reading what seemed like a thousand different books and articles, Ben woke Rachel up at six-o’clock the next morning. She fought him as vigorously as she could with the little bit of strength she had, but Ben was persistent. He finally was able to get her out of bed and asked Lizzie, the Winston’s full-time maid, to help her get dressed.

  “Mr. George ain’t gonna like this one bit,” Lizzie argued.

  “If you want her to get better, just please do what I ask,” Ben replied.

  Lizzie finally got Rachel dressed, though it was no easy task. Ben was waiting in the hallway outside her room when Lizzie brought her out. Ben took her by the hand and slowly led her down the sweeping stairs. They walked into the kitchen where Jim, the Winston’s butler, was serving George his breakfast. George looked up and saw Rachel fully dressed, but with the same blank look on her face.

  “What’s goin’ on here? Why is Rachel out of her room?” Mr. Winston asked incredulously.

  Ben put his index finger up to his lips in an attempt to silence Mr. Winston.

  “Why, it’s breakfast time, Mr. Winston,” Ben said cheerfully. “Rachel always has breakfast with you.”

  George had a stern look on his face, but decided not to question Ben further. He only hoped Ben knew what he was doing.

  “Yes sir. We’re gonna all have a nice breakfast, and then Miss Rachel and me are gonna take a short walk. Let her get a little fresh air.”

  Rachel sat down at the table and put her napkin in her lap. She looked like a piece of machinery moving and still had the same blank expression on her face. This would be the first meal she had eaten outside of her bedroom since she’d been home. Ben walked around to where Jim was standing with the serving tray. He smiled at him as he took it and then walked back to where Rachel was seated. He put three large spoonful’s of eggs, three strips of bacon and a generous portion of grits on her plate. Then he placed two of Lizzie’s famous cat-head biscuits beside the bacon. He broke one of the biscuits in half and covered it with sawmill gravy.

  “She can’t eat all of that,” Mr. Winston said, looking at Ben as if he had lost his mind.

  Ben stood behind Rachel and shook his head at George in a shushing gesture.

  “I bet she can eat most of it,” Ben replied, running his hand through Rachel’s hair. “If she can’t, that’s alright too.”

  Ben guessed that Rachel had lost at least ten pounds. Her cheekbones looked as if they might burst through the thin layer of skin at any time. Her jaws looked cavernous, as if they had been pressed together. This caused her chin to protrude and become much too prominent. Her eyes looked much too large for her head and were constantly darting around the room, like a small animal in fear of predators.

  She picked up a slice of bacon and took a small bite, chewing it several times before swallowing. Then she lifted her fork as if it weighed a ton. She stared at it for a minute before cutting a small portion of the scrambled eggs and slowly lifting it to her mouth. The eggs had barely passed her lips when she jumped up and darted from the table like someone had yelled fire or some other perilous warning. She didn’t make it far past the threshold of the dining room door before she began retching. She fell to her knees and continued to crawl toward the bathroom on her hands and knees. Ben jumped up to help her but Lizzie had seen her and ran down the stairs. She was waving Ben away as she picked Rachel up and helped her to the bathroom.

  Ben walked back over to his chair and sat down. He looked at his plate full of delicious food. It was much better than what he was used to eating every morning and under normal circumstances he would be digging in. But he had suddenly lost his appetite. He picked up his cup of coffee and sipped it, looking at Mr. Winston.

  “We’ve got to try and get he
r into a normal routine,” Ben said. “According to everything I’ve been reading that’s the best thing. She needs exercise to build her strength, too. If we just let her keep layin’ in that bed with nothing to do but dwell on what happened to her, she’ll just waste away. And I refuse to let that happen.”

  Mr. Winston looked at Ben. He was grateful for the way he’d stuck by Rachel’s side, refusing to leave even at mealtime. He had been pouring through those books like he was a doctor in search of a cure for someone who was on their deathbed. If there had been any doubt that Ben truly loved his daughter, it was gone now. He knew it wasn’t romantic love like a boy would have for a sweetheart he was desperately trying to win. It was genuine love like one has for their best friend on earth.

  “Maybe we’re tryin’ to move too fast,” Mr. Winston said quietly, as if he didn’t want anybody but Ben to hear.

  Ben looked down at his coffee cup and shook his head, “It’s been almost two weeks since the…..since she was hurt. I know it’s gonna take a while for her to recover emotionally, but I believe it’s something else that’s causing her to be sick at her stomach and not being able to eat. Have you noticed it’s always worse in the morning. It’s like…….”

  Ben looked up quickly at Mr. Winston, hoping he wasn’t having the same thought he was. But Ben could tell by the way the color had drained from Mr. Winston’s face that he had just read his mind.

  “Oh,…. God no. It….it can’t be. I hadn’t even thought about that. Oh, Lord, please don’t let it be.”

  Mr. Winston got up and walked quickly to the front door. Ben started to follow him but decided it might be best to let him alone. Ben sat back down and put his head in his hands. He had been so wrapped up in watching over Rachel and trying to help her recover from the mental state she was in, that he hadn’t even considered the possibility. One thing he knew for sure was if there had ever been a man who was fertile, it was his father. His mama hadn’t seen many days since she married Rube that she wasn’t carrying a baby. Rube didn’t marry Evergreen until he was thirty-two years old. Evergreen was fifteen years younger. Ben often wondered if he had any half brothers or sisters. Considering Rube’s insatiable sexual appetite, he was all but certain he did.