Chapter 9: May 4th, 1841

The following two days, Aida would spend time learning the process of cooking meals, cleaning and washing clothes, cleaning the household, even taking care of some of the maintenance of the home. She was very patient and diligent as she accomplished the work.

Aida had her own room to sleep in that played in her favor. The room was large enough that it had its own bed, table, and window. She slept in the lower guest room while Linah and Frederick slept in the upper rooms.

It was mid-day as the sun was shining brightly. There were two farmhands taking care of the farm fields along with Frederick that was also out there.

Aida and Frederick had barely spoken much since she was brought to the home. She was watching from the window as she did in her little free time at her master outside. She was contemplating her moves.

She stepped out of the backroom to the kitchen as she found Linah cooking the next meal for the afternoon: A stew of pork, potatoes, and carrots.

Both Aida and Linah wore the typical clothing of the time period. This usually involved woven spun cloth dresses made by locally grown cotton. They both wore headdresses that covered the tops of their heads. Both dresses were a simple color of blue, green, or red.

“There you are, Aida,” Linah said with a smile as she looked at Aida. “You know I never had a chance to complement your cooking yesterday. The apple pie you made was just a little bit overcooked, but it was still alright.”

“Thank you, Linah. I hope Frederick was happy with it.”

“He didn’t complain about it when he ate it, to be fair though he is not the sort of guy that complains too much about anything.”

The kitchen was typical, having a wood-burning stove with a set of sinks to wash the pots and pans. Water was brought in by the local well in buckets and then heated. The pantry was filled with various vegetables, fruits, flour, salt, sugar, and even meat. The kitchen even had a primitive icebox that stored ice to keep perishable items from spoiling.

Linah took a look at the fire in the stove and shook her head. “Ugh ... the fire is dying. I need to get some more wood and stir it some more. Go ahead and get started cutting up those carrots, Aida. I will be right back.”

“Alright,” she responded as she left the kitchen and went to the door to go outside.

Aida looked to see that Linah left. She then walked up to the stove to see what was going on with the fire. She opened up the lid and saw that the fire had burned most of the wood and that it was threatening to turn into embers. There was a small amount of it that was untouched that the fire did not burn yet.

“Let’s see what I can do to help her out,” she commented as she took her hand and reached into the stove to move the wood. The fires touched her hand but did nothing to her skin. She plucked the wood and moved it to the center. Then she released the wood and held her hand away from the fire.

She closed her eyes as she focused on the fire. As she did that, the fire immediately kicked in and ignited the wood. The stove began to burn hot as it originally was as she shut the lid closed and began to clean her hands. She then walked up to the table and started to cut cucumbers and carrots on the cutting table. A minute later, Aida could hear the sounds of Linah’s foot folly as she neared the kitchen.

Linah walked back in with a small bundle of firewood before setting it aside by the wood bin. She walked over to look at the stove. She took a look at the stove and lifted the lid to see that the fire was before it had died down.

“Wow ... just like yesterday. This must be some good wood,” Linah commented. “Today, Aida, I will teach you how to make some bread. I have gotten really good, and Mr. Jules always likes his raisin bread.”

Aida stopped cutting as she set the knife down. “Is raisin bread his favorite food?” She asked her.

“Well ... that is one of his favorites. He likes fish the most. He could never get enough of it. It’s so hard to get it, though.”

Aida smiled and nodded her head as she continued cutting the vegetables.

“Linah, how did you become a slave?”

She sat the pot of hot water on the stove as she looked at her. “I was born here in Georgia, not far from here in South Carolina. My mom gave birth to me in 1798. I do not know the day I was born. When my previous master died, I was given to his widow that sold me to the next slave owner. I was separated away from my father. I was with my mother for a short while before she, too, was separated from them. My sister was born a year after I was. I ... do not know where my father and mother were sent to, but I know where my sister is at. She gave birth to a variety of children. Thankfully I know where most of them are at.”

Aida spoke as she continued her cutting. “So the person who bought you here was Frederick’s father?”

“Yes, Samuel Jules was the one that purchased me. I was with a set of three slaves he bought that day to help grow his cotton.”

“How did Samuel Jules treat you?”

There was hesitation in her face. “He ... was not the best master I had. My previous master was more kind to me than he was. The only thing that was stopping him from fully taking advantage of me was his wife. She was kind and gentle. One day he tried to reach into my dress and grab me underneath ... well, it didn’t happen. She caught him, and she berated him for it. Both of those personalities reign in Frederick now. He tries to be serious at times, but he also has the kindness of his mother.”

“I am sorry that he tried to hurt you,” Aida commented.

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. That was a long time ago, and it was stopped before it happened.”

“Why did Mr. Jules keep you as a slave when he gave the others their freedom?”

“It’s complicated,” Linah explained. “I think it is best to describe the story altogether than just telling tidbits of it. This place is not as big as the other mansions or farmhouses around here. The Jules family here was six slaves total. We worked in the farm fields to grow cotton. We survived like most slaves do. I used to live in that slave house for years. We managed to survive and hold out. That was until three years ago when Mrs. Jules passed away from her sickness. It was like something drained the life of this farm. The cotton yields were dropping, and the farm was making less and less money. I admit I was scared that I was going to be Mr. Jules’s next plaything. I still remember what he tried to do so long ago.”

She stopped talking for a moment as she pointed to the farthest cabinet in the kitchen. “Can you go get that sack of flour from that cabinet for me?”

Aida put the knife down as she turned her head to the cabinet. She opened up the cabinet door and pulled out a large sack of flour.

“Alright ... I am going to show you how to make some bread,” Linah said with a smile. She tried to change the subject. “I want you to get some water, some bowls, and some salt. Get the bowl from the other cabinet and put them on the table. Get some water and that large wooden flat paddle in the corner.”

Aida did as she was instructed. She put the various items on the table.

“Alright, now take that flour and put some into the bowl.”

Aida went and took the knife as she cut into the sack of flour. She began to pour some flour into the bowl as the white powder began to fill her air around her.

Linah laughed a little bit as she could see Aida was making a mess. “Good, but don’t overfill the bowl. Make sure to leave some room to add the water and to mix it.”

Aida complied as she sat the sack down on the floor.

“Now add some water ... just a little bit ... I say a little bit. Not like yesterday with the pork. It made yesterday’s breakfast a little too salty for Mr. Jules.”

“Yeah ... sorry about that,” Aida responded with some regret.

“It’s alright, you are still learning, and Mr. Jules is the forgiving type. Now I want you to take that utensil and start to stir it in. Wet the flour down but don’t drown it. Add just a little bit at a time.”

Aida began her process as she took the cup of water and began to pour small amounts of water into the bowl of flour. She began to stir the flour as the water and flour were starting to form into dough.

“So tell me what happened next with you and the family,” Aida asked as she stirred.

Linah’s focus changed as she got more serious. “Amazingly, Samuel Jules never had his way with me. I know the death of Mrs. Jules had a strong effect on him. He was pretty well shut down after that. He just sat on the couch and drank as he just starred at the farm as we worked. We cooperated as we were supposed to, but he was in a dark place. By then, obviously, his son had taken over his role as he leaned on us for comfort. Within a year, Samuel Jules died in a duel. I don’t know why or how he got into a duel; you will have to ask him on that.”

She looked at Aida as she continued to mix. “Add a little more salt into the dough. The dough is still a little too dry. Almost there, my dear.”

“Anyways, Frederick Jules was given to us as per his father’s will. He, at first, did not know what to do with us except just continue working in the fields. He tried to continue as things as they were, but I think a part of him was tired of this system. He considered us family, and it felt odd for him to do so.”

“Why is that?” Aida asked.

“I think it actually is partly due to something his father did and what his mother wanted, ideas that the North has with wanting to end slavery, and just himself. It is best to talk to him about all that. About four months ago, he brought us all together and announced to us that he wanted to go ahead and give us freedom. To be honest, we were actually surprised when he did that and happy that he did so.”

She changed the subject. “Now go ahead and take some of that dough and with your hand, start to put some of that on the wooden paddle.”

Aida followed her command as she went and grabbed a handful of dough and put it down on the wooden board.

“Good, now start to roll it back and forth and add some flour to the mix. Feel it go back and forth to get the right mixture in place. Do this for a short bit.”

Aida began a process of rolling the dough back and forth. She started to add a slight amount of flour into the dough mixture.

“I will show you how to make hard biscuits sometime in case we really run out of food and need to have something last for a while,” Linah explained. “They are not the best as those biscuits are harder than the very plates we eat on, but I have learned to actually grind them down a little bit and then mix it with raisins that Mr. Jules likes to eat in a bowl, especially when milk is added to it.”

“That sounds nice. Thank you for teaching me everything these last couple of days,” Aida commented.

“Well ... I want to make sure I pass everything to you. You will be taking care of Mr. Jules once I am finally gone. Now let me check the dough out to make sure that it is ready to be added to the stove.”

Linah walked over and poked her finger into the doughy mass on the board. She smiled and nodded to her. “Alright, let’s go ahead and put it into the stove so the bread will rise.” She then walked over to the stove and popped open an upper compartment for the stove where the heat would hit the wooden paddle but not burn the wood. “Now, I want you to go ahead and stick that paddle with the dough into this compartment of the stove.”

Aida went and grabbed the paddle with the dough as she carefully placed it into the stove.

“Now, what do we do?” she asked.

“Simple ... we wait.”

“How long do we wait?”

“Enough time for us to continue our conversation,” Linah responded with a smile.

Aida gave her a question that she wanted to know for the last couple of days, but Linah had been avoiding it for some time. “So the question is why did he keep you as a slave when he let the others go?”

Linah sighed. “I think he is scared to let me go. He considers me like a mother now for his original mother he lost a while back, or at least I think he does. Like I said, he does not treat me badly, and if anything, he is a good young man. He went and gave everyone their freedom, and then he had a talk with me and told me that he could not let me go. He strongly requested that I stay with him even though I am bound to him. I was to be moved from the slave house to sleep here in the farmhouse instead of the slave house. He even tripled my wages from what was given from the original slaves to me. I am paid almost as much as the farmhands that work for him.”

“Wait ... I get paid for this?” Aida asked.

“Well ... it is not much now. I am sure that Mr. Jules will come up with a fairer wage for you once you get a chance to talk to him.”

In actuality, slaves in the Southern states were actually paid for their labor, but it was a very low wage. Other times they had to be paid by doing additional work other than what they were originally doing. It was actually possible but rare that slaves could buy their own freedom, but this was difficult and challenging to do.