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Everything seemed to have it?s use on the farm. The cow provided milk and butter, the chickens provided eggs and meat, the dogs kept snakes and other varmits away and the cats killed the rats in the comcribs.
Between harvesting seasons everyone would get together and go fishing in the pond or the creek which ran through the back of the property. Roy, Rosa and I would usually go for a swim and when we went to the creek would swing from a rope someone had hung from a tree. Aunt Minnie loved fishing the most but Uncle Willie caught the most by far.
We would bring the fish home, clean it on large tables in the back yard, and then drop it into boiling lard in the wash pots. Aunt Minnie would also make some combread batter to drop in with the fish and everything was great. Mr. G. could eat more than anyone else.
Mr. G. was a great provider. Not only did he make sure no one went hungry, he had a vision of the future that included education for all the children raised on the farm. Also he seemed to be financially secure in that he had inherited the farm, so there was no debt, and he brought home a salary from teaching. He had a look of confidence about him that exhibited itself in everything he did. I often wondered why he wasn?t married. When we would go by the school house I thought of how it might be with him as a teacher.
I hadn?t given a thought to going to school but one day Aunt Minnie came and took all my clothes to the wash and then into the main house. When she brought them out they had been starched and ironed and looked just like new. She also brought a new pair of shoes Mr. G. had bought for me.
The next morning after breakfast Aunt Millie said to get dressed and Mr. G. was taking me to school. When we arrived at the schoolhouse I had never seen so many children. It was also easy to notice that Mr. G. was the only white person there. Once everyone was inside things settled down and we were on our way.
Everyone soon realized I had such a head start on all the others. I could read and write some basic sentences, knew my numbers and could even do some simple arithmetic. I became the teacher?s helper and enjoyed working with the other children.
It was here my education took a strange turn. I began to hear stories from the children of how they and their families had been mistreated by whites. At first I didn?t believe many of them but there were too many to ignore. I even saw children with bruises and cuts that had come from abuse. I couldn?t understand how any person could be mean to another.
Late one afternoon Mr. G. was sitting in his rocking chair on the front porch and I went up and sat on the front steps. Mr. G. asked me how school was going and I broke into tears. He came and sat beside me and asked what was the matter. I told him of this one boy who had told how he and his sister were beaten by a white man.
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