Precious Child

Precious Child

As we start approaching the march we all pray. We know the road it took to get here and we are thankful for it. We go to the march knowing that if we bring this little white girl things could turn bad for us, but we take the risk anyway. We start marching and everything is going just fine until we go on 12th street. We hit a block of police just waiting with hoses, guns, dogs, and batons.

Our first thought is run. Instead we continue to be apart of the march, and keep walking until one of the police stops us.

The policeman asks “ what you doing with these black folks, ain't you suppose to be in school or something?”

Annie replies “ These black people are just like us, they ain't no different now. I can support them if I feel like ain't nothing stopping me but you.”

Automatically we braced ourselves for the worst. Before we could even react the policeman had stricken Annie with his baton We try to stop him but he just hits us with his fist and goes right back to Annie.

He pulls back and shoots Annie right in her stomach. We run to be by her side. As she is grasping for air she says “ I stood for something that I was bigger than me. I am finally strong like you.” As she is slowly dying we all start yelling and crying for help. Annie wasn't but a skinny old twig that was just as jolly as anybody could be, she didn't deserve to die. How am I going to explain to her mother that I let her only child die. I will have to give the whole backstory to Ms. Simmons starting from one week ago so she will understand.

1/5/1938

I am 24 years old. I have been cleaning all my life basically. I have always respected other people, I might be a little too nice, a quick temper, and I have a smart mouth on me. I have 1 child with a husband that barely knows me and does whatever to me. My name is Niesha.

I needed a job because the last lady I worked for fired me because I was late one time. I was on the job hunt for about 2 weeks before I finally got this job. My husband refused to give me money to get food and clothing, so me and my son EJ were scraping for food and money. When I first got to Ms.Simmons house I stared at it for about ten minutes. It had a huge gate, water fountain, and at least two cars in the front. I made sure my hair was right, my clothes weren't dusty, and I looked somewhat put together. I sewed old dishrags to make a skirt, and I had a shirt that was too small. I didn't have money to buy new clothes so I managed. I went in and she opened the door with a huge smile on her face. I thought that was a good sign. After I sit down,

Ms. Simmons says “go make some tea for me.”

I respond with “ I'm not working for you yet.”

Ms. Simmons turns around and stares me down and says “oh yes you are why do you think you are here.”

I quietly turn and go in the kitchen to make her tea.

She asks me “do you have any maid friends, because I need three maids.”

I immediately say “Yes ma’am I do, they will be here by tomorrow.”

As I’m walking my four miles back home I think that this lady sure evil and bossy. I was sure that she had a evil soul, I could feel it.

1/6/1938

This morning I am slow to get up out of bed. It is currently 5:40 am, I know I’m going to be late. I have to walk 4 miles to get there and it is cold outside which will make me take longer. I go to my friends house so I can meet up with them.They names is Arianna and Tyann. They was gonna be Ms. Simmons maids with me. Arianna needed a job because her husband died so she had to earn money now. Tyann was being abused by her husband so anytime she could get away from him, she took the chance.

We all go to Ms. Simmons house. As soon as she opens the door, Ms.Simmons says “twelve minutes late, twelve dollars out of your paycheck.” She gives us our list of chores, which was a killer. We all helped each other scrub the floor. Ms. Simmons liked the floor spotless so we had to scrub the floor on our knees. Everytime she saw a dirty spot she would pour coffee on the spot and make us have to scrub all over again.

By the time our lunch break comes we are burnt out. All of our backs hurt and knees hurt. We were eating bread with tomato soup until this lovely little girl comes to sit with us.

We ask her “ who are you and what's your name?”

She responds “I'm her daughter my name is Annie.”

Annie had such a beautiful smile that it injected the room with positivity. Annie starts twirling and dancing, as we start to dance with her, her mom comes and says “ bye Annie, maids back to work.”

By the end of the day we are burnt out and ready to go home. As we get ready to go outside we realized that it was raining. None of us had an umbrella just coats. We decided to ask Ms. Simmons for a ride but she automatically says no because she didn't think it was proper for her to drive her maids home. We start walking our four miles in the rain. By the time we get home we are all soaked and it is 10:49 at night pitch black. I get in the bed and every place on my body is sore. I am aching all over, it feels if I’ve been beaten.

1/7/1938

This morning I can't even manage to get out of bed. It is already 6:30 when I wake up. I am sore out of this world and I am sick with the flu. I call Tyann and Arianna who are also still in bed. We all decide to skip a day of work because we are sick and aching. We call Ms. Simmons to let her know and

she says “ you guys get here in the next hour or you guys are fired.”

I say “ Now Ms. Simmons you have to understand that we are sick from walking in the rain and that we are sore from being on our knees all day yesterday. We cannot make it into work today. Now I will not risk my health just to work for you.” There is a minute of awkward silence on the phone

she

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