Author's Note: All characters are over the age of 18. Character names and events are purely fictional and depict but in no way endorse racism, bigotry, rape or dehumanizing another human being. Please look at the tags before reading as there is scat and nonconsensual toilet play. Heavy racial language and slurs included. If any of these themes disgust or offend you in any way, feel free to skip this story. Everyone else, enjoy.
Friday, September 27th, 1811
Dear Diary,
It feels weird comin' on here and putting words to paper. But a wise person once told me it's never too late to tell my story or change it. So I reckon I 'oughta start from the very beginning.
My name's Mayella. I'm a slave, born and raised. Momma named me Mayella 'cause I was born in the hottest month in Georgia, a real "bright yella' thang'" thanks to my Daddy. He was a white plantation owner, she was his slave, and one thing led to another, they had me.
Momma and I caught all sorts of nasty looks from white folks, but for all his flaws, Daddy was a kind Master who shielded us from judgment and treated us well, even taught us to read and write some. I felt no different than his other chil'ren and for awhile, we lived in that little bubble, where the color of our skin didn't matter.
I thought when the day would come, Daddy would
emancipate
us. That means free us. But one day, Daddy died of a heart attack. Mistress Sinclair - who by then was only his wife on paper - took over his affairs. She threw out his will promising to free Momma and me, and instead split us up and sold us off to different plantations. I became a 19-year old slave with no home, no Daddy, and no Momma, all by my lonesome self.
I cried like a baby when they took Momma. She was gettin' up there in age, and it broke my heart knowin' she'd be workin' her last good years to the bone. But Mistress Sinclair not only wanted the reminder of her husband's infidelity gone, she wanted us punished for it. That woman was pure evil.
As for me, I didn't know much 'bout my new masters. All I knew was I got sold off to the Cryer Plantation. The Cryer family was somethin' mighty big in Chatham County, sittin' on a whole lot of land; 'wealthy' was an understatement. I figured they were just like any ol' slavers who treated their slaves like cattle.
Boy was I wrong.
*************************
Thursday, August 8th, 1811
1 month ago...
"You can't cook worth a damn," The one-eyed butler, Old Man Reesus, gruffs at me, spittin' out the mushy corn I done served up. Darn it, I knew I boiled it too long. "Can't clean for nothin', can't oil neither. I don't know how you made it this long, girl, but you best learn somethin'. 'Cause you not gettin' far with this mess; you gon' get beat or worse."
Tonight's my night to whip up supper and tidy up the kitchen, with Old Man Reesus makin' sure everythin''s in line 'fore Master Cryer rolls in. Old Man Reesus is a grumpy black slave pushin' 70 with white hair and bow-legged limbs, and he can't stand me one bit.
The Cryers got a whole passel of white and black folk to keep the house in order, but Reesus runs the show. He's been here so long, everyone calls him Old Man Reesus. Ever since I landed here a month ago this man always got a bone to pick with me, if it ain't my cookin' or my cleanin'.
I nod, tryin' to hold back the tears from spillin' down my face. Cryin' is just gon' make it worse. Lord, that Old Man Reesus sure can be mean.
But it's true. I can't cook maize, shine floors, or oil lanterns 'cause I never learned. And by the looks of it, I still ain't learn. I don't know how I'm gon' make it 'fore Master Cryer gets fed up and beats me black and blue, but all I can do is try my best.
I scramble to clean up the mess on the counter 'fore Old Man Reesus gets the head house cook, Khadijah, to let me have it too. As I bend down to soak the rag, my heel hits somethin' heavy and metal.
"No, don't go back near the--goddammit!" He curses.
The silver pail on the ground tips over, splashin' brown dishwater everywhere.
Shucks. Now he got a reason to yell at me some more.
My cheeks flush when the kitchen door flies open. Behind me Old Man Reesus stops in a cold panic. I stop too.
"That's enough," comes Master Cryer's deep voice. I turn 'round to face him. He strides in, and the whole place falls silent as a grave. Old Man Reesus's heavy, ragged breaths brush against me while Master towerin' over us, glarin' down at the mess. Like a hawk spottin' a squirrel, he stalks closer. That's when I take a good look at him.
He looks like your average Joe Schmoe, mid-30s with a recedin' hairline but he stands like a man who knows he's got wealth for generations. He's in an ol' wife beater with fancy rolled cuffs showin' his beefy arms. His eyes squint down at us from a plain ruddy face with brown scruff that matches his copper hair.
But it's his energy that rattles me. He's lookin' at me the way the Devil's hounds eye a fresh new soul in Hell, filled with pure malice, sliminess, and a mess of emotions I can't quite pin down.
I feel like I'm starin' at the face of Satan.
"Reesus, grab them rags and start cleanin' this mess up. And send Khadijah to fetch a mop for this filthy floor. Don't make me come back and see it like this again." He spits. The last line is his final warnin'.