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“ A Childhood of Captivity”
Act 2
( Curtain opens)
Scene: Inside- The Twin Oaks Houses
December, 15th 1870 Morning 9:05 a.m. St. Catherine Street, Natchez, Mississippi.
Inside- The Twin Oaks Houses.
Maybelle narrates her life story, from the beginning to Matilda.
Maybelle: (Sitting calmly in her rocking chair as she narrates )
I was born on May, 15th 1796 on a cotton plantation called Newberry Estate in Fayetteville, North Carolina my mama and I were slaves there. She picked cotton and I stayed in the shack mostly, I sometimes would play with other slave children, at the time none of us thought we were slaves. We all thought everyone lived that way. I didn't know we were considered property until I was like 11 or 12. My mama explained everything to me. I was shocked, I thought we were like everyone else my mama said we were different. I remember one time my mama and the other slave worked from the early hours of the morning until late at night. I remember seeing all over the fields lanterns and torches to light up the fields, so the slaves could work through the night. When my mama finally came home, she opened the door to our shack, and she collapsed right there, her hands were all bloody from picking the cotton all day and night. I remember the old lady who lived in our shack with us, All of us slaves called her grandma. She called to my mama, Betsy are you okay? Everyone called her Betsy that wasn't her real name, but that was what they called her. My mama had a traditional African name, Akua and she had the last Jefferson because her mother and father, my grandparents belong to Thomas Jefferson. So that is how we got the last name.
Matilda:
How did your mama get the name Betsy?
Maybelle:
Well, the story my mama told me when went like this. When she was really small, my grandparents used to call her just baby. When my Mama started talking and she tried to say, baby, it kind of sounded like she was saying, Betsy. So that is how they started calling her Betsy.
Matilda:
Oh, that makes sense.
Maybelle:
As time went on and got a little bit older, I was put to work as a housegirl or maid some folks would say, and the other children I grew up with went to the cotton fields. The master and the lady of the plantation were The Von Barrons they were Thomas and Margaret Von Barren, and the name of the plantation was Newberry Estates.
Matilda:
Was there a lot of people working on the plantation?
Maybelle:
My, yes there were a lot of people working on the plantation not just slaves. Some people built things and some made clothes and even rope and different things. It was almost like a small town.
Matilda:
Wow!, it sounded like it. Was the master and lady nice to you?
Maybelle:
Well, the master was kind of nice to me at first, but Lady Margaret was mean to everyone, including Master Thomas. She would yell and scream at him all the time.
Matilda: (Speaking with a little sadness in her voice.)
Poor man, that's awful.
Maybelle: ( Speaking sternly )
I wouldn't feel too bad for him, he was bad in his own right.
Matilda:
Oh, what did he do, Ms. Jefferson?
Well, I don't like to talk about it much, but when I was 12 or 13 I was sent to the main house to work as a housegirl or maid some would call it. Anyway, the master took a shine to me and when he saw me he would smile at me. I didn't think much about it and smiled back at him and continued my work. I think Lady Margaret started to notice his behavior toward me and I think she got awful jealous. I remember one time I was pouring Lady Margaret a glass of water and a couple of drops hit the table and Lady Margaret slapped my face and told me to clean it up.
Matilda:(Speaking with excitement )
That's awful Ms. Jefferson!
Maybelle:
Yes, but it gets worse.
Matilda: (Speaking with excitement)
Oh no, Ms Jefferson!
Maybelle:(Speaking with excitement)
Oh, Yes! , When Master bought supplies and they got delivered he would ask me to help him put them in the barn, so went with him to the wagon with supplies and started picking up the boxes and following Master Thomas into the barn. He then told me to put them at the back of the barn with the other crates, so I did and he turned around and shut and locked the barn door. Soon he was behind me and he bent me over some bails of hay and... and started to. (Maybelle's eyes filled with tears. ) rape me.
It went on for years until one day he attacked me and I guess he had a heart attack and died on top of me I pushed him off of me and ran out of the barn and kept on running like the world was after me. I ran and ran until nightfall , I was worried about my mama and if I'd see her again, but I had to keep moving
Matilda: (Frowning and start to cry a little bit)
I'm sorry Ms. Jefferson, that's so awful.
Maybelle: (Still crying a bit)
Yes, yes it was.
Matilda: (Speaking with sadness)
Where did you go?
Maybelle: (Speaking with sadness)
I ran into the woods and kept running until nightfall and I found an old-looking weeping willow tree and hid myself amongst the branches and fell asleep.
Matilda:
What happened when you woke up Ms. Jefferson?
Maybelle:
Well, I stayed hidden amongst the trees and foraged for berries and such and found water in creeks, and at night when I couldn't be seen I would drink out of the rain barrels of houses I'd find.
Matilda:
How long did you stay on the run, Ms Jefferson?
Maybelle:
It may have been a few days or months it was hard to tell no matter how long it was it felt like a lifetime.
(The stage darkens and the curtain closes)
End of Act 2
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