Green Eyes on the Prize
byline: Anubis C. Soundwave
Prologue A: Would God judge a man for the color of his skin?
"Foley," hisses Lucretia Gray, a full-figured black woman.
Demetrius Foley, a lanky black male with brown eyes, rolls his eyes at Lucretia. "You know how paranoid crackers is about a pair of niggers hanging around outside at night," he grins. "Why we out here?"
Lucretia scowls. "Follow me, you idiot," she spits.
Returning the scowl, Demetrius complies, following Lucretia into a small shed outside a plantation.
Inside the shed, a doctor finishes his exam of a young black adolescent female.
Demetrius glowers at the doctor.
"The doctor ain't did nothin' to Jeanette," says Lucretia, grave.
"Doctor..." says the girl, Jeanette, weakly. "Please tell me. I...I can bear it."
"Bear what?" asks Demetrius.
The doctor sighs. "The girl is with child," he says.
Demetrius shakes his head in disbelief. "We all 'bout to leave," he says. "Jeanette-girl: you, your daddy, and Alvin...you all goin' with me to travel with Moses."
"Boss cracker know all about Tubman," says Lucretia flatly.
"How!?" balks Demetrius. "Alvin and Jeanette-girl both know how to keep their mouth shut, and Aldridge sure as hell can't say shit-even if he wanted to. Where they at, anyway?" Demetrius continues.
"D...daddy's digging near the peach orchard," says Jeanette, "and Alvin-Alvin...!" Her words are choked back with sobs.
"He dead, Demetrius," says Lucretia. "Alvin Aldridge Foley is dead."
"No...no..." breathes Demetrius, trembling.
"And then Ol' Jackie gone and tup-*" continues Lucretia, wincing as she stares at Jeanette's belly.
"No!" roars Demetrius, consumed with rage; he snatches off the doctor's gun holster and pulls out the pistol. "I'll kill him-I'll kill the sorry-ass cracker tonight!"
The doctor blinks. "I heard nothing," he mutters, "and I saw nothing."
"Don't be a shit, Foley!" spits Lucretia, grabbing the pistol from Demetrius' shaky hands. "You done try that before. I done try it before. You and I both know Ol' Jackie got one foot in the grave-and we sure as hell can't take him by surprise."
"What am I supposed to do, Miss Creechie?" demands Demetrius. "I ain't standin' around to take no more shit from Barrineau. No more!"
"Uncle Demetrius," says Jeanette. "Daddy and I will just hold you back."
"I...I can't leave y'all here!" counters Demetrius. "Cracker done took almost my whole family from me: Simon, Theodore, and now Alvin! All my little nephews: he killed Simon and Theodore right in front of-*"
"You don't have to tell me," says Jeanette, sullen as she slowly sits up. "I was there: for all of it."
"Jeanette-girl," groans Demetrius. "I want to set you free."
"Then take that gun out of Miss Lucretia's hand," says Jeanette, trembling, "and shoot me in the head..."
Lucretia embraces Jeanette as Jeanette weeps; she presses the younger woman's head on her shoulder. "No, girl," says Lucretia softly. "Don't let him win like that. Be strong."
Demetrius and the doctor stand silently as Lucretia gently rocks Jeanette to sleep, Demetrius glowering at the doctor.
The doctor adjusts his spectacles. "I suppose you think I share in the blame of this," he says soberly.
"Every white man, woman, and child in this nation will bear the blame for this," says Demetrius, "even after the Lord delivers us from your chains of bondage, and even after He pours out his righteous fury upon thee: your children, and your children's children, shall all be held to account."
"Would God judge a man for the color of his skin?" asks the doctor gently.
"No," says Demetrius, "but I do. I judge every white who has ever turned his back and did nothing against this evil: from the day my ancestors were dragged here from West Africa, to this moment, here and now," he continues, "your people have either made us suffer, or let us suffer."
The doctor rubs his arms.
"So drop on your knees," says Demetrius, "and thank the Lord every day of your life, that vengeance is His, and not mine. And if you don't believe in the Lord," he continues, "then you'd better start."
Lucretia rolls her eyes. "Sometimes, sir," she says to the doctor, "Mr. Foley fancies himself a preacher: failing to realize that the Lord only caused an ass to speak once."
Demetrius pouts. "Shut up, Miss Creechie," he says.
"Call me back," says Tubman simply. "Give the chilin' inside them Gray and Foley gals some time to grow."
Demetrius nods, grief and anger on his face.
Tubman nods to a group of fugitive slaves; they rise to their feet and slip out through the back door of an abandoned barn behind Baxter Farm.
Alone in the barn, Demetrius drops to his knees...and weeps.
NEXT: A funky Phantom trip to the 1980s!
