My Dear Sister,
This morning was like most mornings. I early and went down to breakfast. I always took more food than I needed. I would eat with Berthe and Jack and sometimes Jack's Father, my Father, and William would be there. They weren't today.
After I finished my breakfast I would put the remainder of my food in my dress pocket and then go for a walk. Today I walked a biscuit and a piece of sausage. I walked through the field until I found Keeya. She was helping harvest the cotton. I reached into my dress and pulled out the food. I gave it to Keeya. She took a slow bite. I have been sneaking her food for the last month and she is still nervous to take it from me. After she ate a little less than half, she ran off. I knew she was going to give the rest of it to her sister.
Then I walked over to the patio of the house and sat down. I waited there until Jack came out. "Hello, Lorraine," he said. I am getting fairly used to being called that. He sat across from me on the table. He started talking to me in French. "Have you heard the news?" He asked.
"What news?" I asked.
"We are going to have a big party here at the end of the month," he said. "People from all around will be coming."
I smiled and pretended to be interested. "That's nice," I said.
"Oh, and yesterday at school I got chosen to take a test. Only a few people got chosen and I will compete with people from other schools for prize money," Jack told me. I wasn't surprised. Jack is very smart.
"That's great," I said. "Will you be tested on your French?"
"That's part of it," He said. "And I have an advantage. I bet I'm the only student there who uses French everyday."
"If you want my help studying, I will."
"That sounds great," He told me. "But now let's start with your English lesson."
"Alright," I said.
Today we spent the afternoon learning about food words. We went into the kitchen and he told me how to say all kinds of things. Some of the foods I had never even heard of. It was quite fun.
"This is a pear," Jack told me in English.
"Pear," I repeated. He tossed it to me. I didn't know whether he wanted me to eat it or not so I just held onto it.
"This is an apple," Jack told me.
"Apple," I repeated. He tossed it to me too. This went on until Berthe kicked us out of the kitchen. We decided to go outside for the rest of the day.
We walked around the plantation. He told me more food words in English: breakfast, lunch, dinner, to eat, to drink, vegetable, fruit, and other things like that. We walked until I saw Keeya by her little house. "I'll be right back," I told Jack.
I ran to Keeya. "Hello," I said. She repeated me. I handed her the pear that was still in my hand. "This is a pear," I said in English. I smiled because I knew the word. Keeya's sister came up to her. They spoke to each other in their native language then Keeya let her sister eat the pear.
I walked back over to Jack who was looking at me like I was absolutely insane. "She is my friend," I told him.
We started walking again. "You're friends with a slave?" He asked.
"Yes," I said. "What's wrong with that?"
"Your not allowed to do that. Do you know what would happen if my uncle or your father found out?"
"Are you going to tell on me?" I asked.
"No."
"Then it doesn't matter."
"Do you sneak her food everyday?" Jack asked.
"Yes," I said. "And a blanket and my old toy for her sister to play with."
I thought Jack would be mad about this but instead he just laughed. "Your funny Lorraine," he said.
"How so?"
"You are just the only girl I've ever met who would do something like that. Your very brave. I like you."
I stared at him because it was the first time in my life that I had ever been called brave. You were usually the brave one. I was always scared of my own shadow. It was also the first time a boy had told me he likes me and truely meant it. I didn't know what to say so I said exactly what I was thinking. "Lorraine is my English name. When we're alone you can call me by my real name if you would like. It's Azelma."
I'm slowly but surely getting used to this whole America thing. I am beginning to find my place here. I think one of the main reasons I help Keeya and her sister is because they remind me of you and I. She always takes care of her and looks out for her.
I know you are still looking out for me,
Your Sister, Azelma