Wash Read Online Free PDF Page A

anyway. William refuses to see that he cannot manage Memphis for you and be an abolitionist at the same time. But just because he’s being irrational doesn’t mean you should.”
    My Livia continually comes to my aid by refusing to protect me. Pinning me with a fierce look from under those brows I recognize as my own. No wonder she’s not married.
    “I know you hoped you’d have left slavery back in Baltimore by now, well hobbled by your Revolution and dying out. But that’s not what’s happened. The difference you’re seeking is not to be found. It is simply more and more of the same. What will you do when you don’t like the game? Stay out of it? That doesn’t sound like you.”
    And she’s as right as ever. I’m in it because I can’t stay out of it. Plain and simple.
    Strange as it may sound, it can be easier with the negroes. Some few of them, at least. My Emmaline knows better than to come to me with every little thing. I do not enjoy managing, so mine need to have sense enough to work most things out for themselves. My neighbor Miller keeps his people on such a tight rein until they check in with him about which way the sun will rise and which way it will set. If mine were like that, I’d have to replace the whole lot.
    Emmaline runs the house smoothly and I leave her to it. She and my wife make quite the pair. They constitute their own army, with inventory being their strongest suit. Mary gave her the key to the smokehouse and God’s eye on the sparrow is nothing to the track Emmaline keeps of those hams.
    I lucked upon her soon after I came West. Took her and her boy unwillingly in payment for a piece of land, but she has proven to be a godsend. Stays close at hand instead of forever asking for a pass like the rest, especially after that husband she finally found took up with somebody else. And Mary savors the way Emmaline wears the Bible she gave her in her front apron pocket, almost like a shield.
    Every now and then, I’ll help Emmaline or one of hers out of a pinch but only when it’s serious. She knows I’d just as soon sell than hear too much nagging. And she doesn’t want me in her business any more than I want to be there. Of course, she’s well into mine. When you have folks to wipe your nose and your behind both, they will know your business. All you can do is hope they won’t get the chance to tell too much of it.
    Far too many people refuse to accept this simple equation. Wishing things otherwise hardly makes them so. I’m not like these neighbors of mine who think their negroes don’t have business of their own. That’s one thing I’ve learned from Emmaline if from no one else. There’s not a soul born on this earth that doesn’t have some kind of business.
    Unfortunately there are those among us, my wife and girls included, who insist on acting like children playing with dolls. I asked Mary not to involve herself so deeply in Emmaline’s eldest grandson’s wedding. But she worked on that damn girl’s dress for months, embroidering flowers all over it, and then orchestrated what should have been a meaningless ceremony right between my garden and my pond. Almost at the house.
    And just as I predicted, the many grew jealous of any advantage granted the few. It took me months to settle my place back down after that. So what can I say to my neighbors who create trouble for themselves by getting too involved? What I want to say to those dreamers is dig yourselves out of your own mess and don’t expect to bring it to me. But with the way these negroes all know one another, we are bound together whether we like it or not.
    You must work not to get drawn in, even as you must stay close enough to be able to see clearly and decide for yourself. Quinn started out trying to get between me and mine but I had to make him quit. Once I’ve made a decision, then he can carry it out, but I don’t want him any closer to mine than me.
    What I tell people about Wash is, most horses, you need