Mister Beale pats her hand. “It’s all right, Eugenie.”
But it’s not all right, I think. Year after year of cutting cane ’til I grow old. Years of working for an owner in the big house, long after the Beales have passed. I want more. I want to do something else, see the world, and be free of sugar.
“We’re going north,” I blurt.
“Can’t do that, Sugar.”
“Yes, we can. I’m taking you. Time for you to find your children.”
“We wouldn’t know where to start.”
“We’ll start in St. Louis. That’s where Lizzie went.”
Both look at me, skeptical. Like I’m making up a nonsense tale.
I almost stop. “I mean it. We’re leaving.”
“We’re too old. Too slow,” says Missus Beale.
“You are old. Too old to stay here. River Road isn’t going to be River Road anymore.”
“Sugar, you’re too young to understand.”
“I am not.”
“Well, we’re not leaving,” says Mister Beale sharply.
“You’re both acting like Hyena.”
“Sugar, apologize.”
“I won’t, Missus Beale. Hyena wouldn’t leave if his village caught fire. But Br’er Rabbit would tell everybody, ‘Go.’ Turtle, Tiger, and all the animals would leave. Find another home.” I’m breathing hard. “Please, Mister and Missus Beale. Let’s go. There’s nothing here.”
Mister Beale says, “The bad I know…”
“… is better than what I don’t,” finishes Missus Beale.
The Beales are in my shack. Sitting on the dirt. There’s no table. No bed off the ground. Nothing but a bed sack, a fireplace, and cooking gear. No window to let in light. How can any place not be better than here?
Mister Beale looks wistful. I know they want to leave, find their children. But they’re scared to try.
Propped against the wall is my map. “Look, Mister Beale, the world is big, but we’ve got a map.”
I unroll the map on the floor.
“Here’s us. And here’s St. Louis. We just have to stay on the river.”
I flatten my hand on the map. “See, St. Louis is hardly farther than my fingertips. It’s closer than the size of your hand, Mister Beale.”
“We don’t have the energy, Sugar,” says Missus Beale. “If we were younger…”
“But it can’t be harder than cutting cane next year. Year after year. Sunup to sundown.”
Then I ask, “Which sounds better: cutting cane or finding your children?”
The Beales look at each other.
“You know I won’t stop pestering you until you say yes.”
Missus Beale nods to Mister Beale.
Mister Beale says, “You win, Sugar. I guess it would be better to head north….”
I twirl. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
I dash straight for the Beales. We hug, good and tight.
I run outside, shout from the porch, “Me and the Beales are going north.”
Neighbors hoot, whistle, and clap. This time, it will be everyone else that has to be happy for us.
Across the yard, Beau bows to me. I bow back.
Spring
Me and the Beales are on a steamship heading north to St. Louis. We left River Road three days ago. The river is so much bigger than I imagined.
Jade’s with us, too, chasing rats in the ship’s hold.
Leaning on the rail, I watch rippling white waves caused by the churning paddle wheel. Spray settles on my face and arms. I inhale, smelling mud and fish. Dogwoods and magnolias line the shore. On my map, the Mississippi reaches far, far past St. Louis. One day, I’ll travel to its northern end.
I like how the river’s horizon touches sky. I like how blue-green algae floats, sparkling in the sunshine. I like the unsteadiness of water beneath the ship. I like standing still while the ship carries me farther than I’ve ever been.
I think of me and Billy playing pirates. Both captains on our raft. I think about how he knew I didn’t like my name. So long ago and far away now.
Here, on the river, I realize I like my name. Ma gave it to me. I wrap my arms about myself and imagine her hugging me.
I’m free.
A Note from the Author
In 2007, my friend Edwardo e-mailed me a review of Lucy M. Cohen’s book Chinese in the Post–Civil War South: A People Without a History. Ed knew I’d been traveling to Chengdu, China, to teach creative writing. He also knew I’d be captivated by an American history I hadn’t known.
I kept daydreaming about Chinese and African Americans in Louisiana, working side by side. I could hear the cadence of their voices… see them cooking, resting after a hard day in the fields.
For a long time, I thought I’d write an adult novel. But, in 2010, I visualized a little girl, hands on her hips, who kept complaining, “How come I have to work? How come I can’t play?”
Sugar was born. She became the heroine who bridged cultures and encouraged joy.
Reconstruction in America was a turbulent time. Some Southerners wanted slavery to continue; others adapted to a free labor source. Labor shortages were common, as many African Americans migrated north and to other parts of the United States.
Thousands of Chinese workers were brought from China, the Caribbean, Latin America, and British Guiana (Guyana) to Mississippi and Louisiana to work on sugarcane plantations. These workers, while immigrants and, some, indentured servants, were at times treated as brutally as slaves. American politicians passed specific laws that prevented Chinese immigrants from gaining citizenship. Some went on to the Hawaiian Islands, gaining land and starting businesses and new lives.
River Road Plantation is modeled after Laura Plantation in Louisiana. Alcée Fortier, professor of romance languages at Tulane University, collected Compair Lapin tales (Br’er Rabbit, “Brother Rabbit” variations of West African folktales) at Laura Plantation and elsewhere.
In 1894, Fortier published Louisiana Folk-Tales: In French Dialect and English Translation. Some Br’er Rabbit tales originally did involve hyenas, a common African animal, and later were translated into foxes for American audiences. Br’er Rabbit was a trickster—a heroic, wily figure for slaves because he outwitted the hyena/fox, which was symbolic of white slave owners. Even Br’er Rabbit’s laziness was a triumph in a world where slaves were inhumanely treated and harshly worked. Br’er Rabbit tales were entertaining and inspiring, and an act of hidden defiance for slaves. They also contributed to slaves’ and freed people’s sense of community, honoring the griot, the storyteller tradition of Africa. (Famed author Joel Chandler Harris is rightfully recognized for translating and retelling oral Br’er Rabbit stories for the American literary canon.)
Dragon tales, like Br’er Rabbit tales, are equally inspiring to the Chinese. Dragons are spiritual figures who promote peace, justice, and plenty.
The Chinese calendar is built around twelve animals—including the Hare. Hare was Americanized to Rabbit.
It is true that people born in the Year of the Monkey and the Year of the Ox make strong bonds. It is also true that according to southern folklore, turtles bring good luck.
Beau and Sugar create what is a uniquely (and increasingly) American family—namely, a family that blends multiethnic bloodlines. Billy is a hero, too. He represents all the southern Reconstructionist youths who grew up in the shadow of slavery but learned to form friendships based upon character, not skin color. Billy, Beau, and Sugar represent the best of America.
Sincerely,
Jewell
Acknowledgments
Books are collaborations. I wish to thank my husband, Brad, for his loving support; my editor, Liza Baker, who guided me with brilliant grace; her assistant, Allison Moore, who brought such cheer to the process; and the many Little, Brown Books for Young Readers employees who took such great care of Sugar.
Special thanks, also, to my research assistant, Catherine Murray, and to Dr. Robert J. Cutter, professor
of Chinese, director of the School for International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University.
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Contents
Welcome
Dedication
I: Winter 1870
River Road Plantation
Harvest Is Done
Freedom
Pirate Captains
A Story for Ma
Left Behind
Okra for the Chinamen
In the Briar Patch
Pebbles
Punishment
Eagle Bright
II: Planting 1871
Knee-How
Planting Day
Chapter 14
Tricksters
Another Secret
Chinese New Year
Fever
III: Harvest 1871
Billy Cuts Cane
Kite Day
Family
Almost Done
Happy?
Bad Dreams
Changes
The Wave
Spring
A Note from the Author
Acknowledgments
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Interior art copyright © 2013 by Neil Brigham
Book design by Alison Impey
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: May 2013
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ISBN 978-0-316-12578-9
Sugar Page 13
