(A/N:) I asked permission to type this story, so don't send messages about how somebody is already writing one like this!!!
I was one of the volunteers at The First African Baptist Church. The congregation was leaving and stepping over little holes on the ground that we said over and over again were decorations. They really weren't. When all that was left was the selected volunteers, we opened the floor boards and let out a Japanese girl, a Portuguese boy, and a Chinese boy.
"Thank-you for making an exception," the girl said with a beautiful smile. Her ragged clothes made her really look like what she was. A runaway slave.
"Yea, you saved us from picking the seeds out of cotton for the rest of our lives," the Chinese boy bowed. He didn't have a shirt on, so it was easy to tell, when you were facing his back, that he had been majorly mistreated.
The last boy was quiet. He had scares all over him. He didn't have a shirt on either, but his was stronger and taller than the others. Maybe it was because he was older and had to go through more suffering consequences. He smiled at me. He was probably very grateful. We took them into another room to give them a feast. The ate a lot of the food. I smiled. They probably hadn't eaten in while.
"Jermaine," another volunteer, named Tamaqua, started, "do you think they know what the songs and lights mean, and what the passwords are?"
"Huh?" the Japanese girl's split ended hair fell into her face.
"Wade in the water means, go into the water, and the other songs are easy to figure out," I said with a smile.
"And the lights and passwords?" she asked.
"One light means hide, and two lights mean keep going. And the passwords change a lot, and not many places use them. It just depends on your route.
"That's stupid," I heard the Portuguese boy say.
"You're a runaway slave; most of these 'stupid' things are used to distract white men from the meaning!" I stood up.
"Well, I can find the way on my own!" he stood up, too.
"Raimundo, you know as much as me and Omi do that we need this help and that we are completely grateful for it!" the Japanese girl said trying to get Raimundo the sit down.
"Well, Kimiko, that's the thing, if the first runaways didn't need help, then we don't either!" he walked off leaving her to just sit their astonished.
"Wait!" Tamaqua ran up to him. "If you are just going to walk out of here like you can, you'd need the proper clothes. You could probably pass as a Spanish man."
"I'm not leaving without Kimiko and Omi," he said, putting his hands into fists. It would be hard for Kimiko and Omi. There are few Asians that bought their freedom, so they had to have an ID if they did. I even have an ID. I noticed they'd be checked everywhere they go for an ID and be caught fairly easily.
"Good," I said. I heard a knock on the congregation's room door. I walked out side the room and ran to the exit/entry door. I opened it and there was a fat and tall white man standing their.
"Do you got any runaways?" he asked.
"No, sir, we get some blacks who bought freedom," I said, trying to make it seem like I never had an education. It was against the law, but white men were stupid.
"Well, I see even the ones who bought freedom still don't have an education," he smirked.
"Our next group come in a while," I said.
"Well, I'll be off then," his smirk grew bigger and he tipped his hat and walked off.
"Sir, what your name?" I asked before he really had a chance to get a foot away.
"I'm Clay, and you are?" he replied.
"I'm Jermaine," I said.
"I heard you bought your freedom. Where'd ya get the money?" he turned back around.
"A kind man had left it at my door step in a package," I said.
"Yea, who was the man who sent it to you?" he asked.
"Somebody by the name of Henry Anderson," I replied.
"I heard he was your father, but he died a few days after he shipped off the package," his smirk had completely faded.
"Ain't it a nice day? Well, I hope you have one. Good-bye," I closed the door and went back into the room where the runaways were. "There's a slave catcher in town."
"What's his name?" Tamaqua asked.
"Clay," I said.
"Oowee, that might be a hard one to get around," another volunteer said.
"Possibly," Kimiko sighed.
"It's okay," Omi tried to hug her, but she didn't hug back.
"Come on, we can do this," Raimundo gave Omi and Kimiko a big hug. They rubbed past some of his bad scars but he didn't seem to care.
"Thanks, you guys," Kimiko smiled.
"It's okay," Raimundo let go of Omi and hugged Kimiko tighter.
"Jermaine," Tamaqua said, "I think you might have to help 'em."
"Huh?" I asked.
"You know as well as I do that it might be hard for them. And they need to get to Canada, which will take months to get to, even without stopping at all," she said.
"Fine," I said.
Late that night after Raimundo, Kimiko, and Omi had finished resting, we ran out of the church and headed towards a night steamboat that travels up the Savannah River and drops us off at the edge of South Carolina. It was a special boat run by some secret members of the Save the Slaves Society (A/N: I just made that up). The SSS is very important. Without it, nobody would help slaves to freedom. These white men were different that others. They were nice and helped us load our stuff and moved quickly up the stream. There were a lot of other slaves there, too. Mostly going in different routes. Some were from farther south and a few just found out they were pregnant, meaning a longer trip, to make sure the babies don't die. Raimundo made sure Kimiko didn't freeze. He didn't mind the cold. I didn't know why, though. I wish I did. He had his arms around her and she fell asleep, with her head in his chest. I guess they were in love. I saw how Omi was just sitting there all by himself. I sat with him. We watched as the scenery passed by, and slave cabins were quiet, except for a few singing "Wade in the Water" out of boredom, probably. I smiled as Raimundo kissed Kimiko on the top of her head. He would probably do anything for her. Go back to slavery is probably not one of them. I lied down, and Omi did, too. Raimundo lied down as well, but more carefully to make sure Kimiko didn't wake up. "I think this is the beginning of a whole new life," I said to Omi and Raimundo. They nodded with smiles on their faces. I fell to sleep quickly as the boat began to pick up more speed.
(A/N:) Please, REVIEW! HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!
