was her duty to teach her slaves to be good Christians. Though she attended the Anglican church like her husband, she had been raised a Catholic, so she quietly invited a Catholic priest to teach her slaves religion. While the official slave baptisms were by Anglican priests, Mrs. Harris did not object when the slaves built altars to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Like the slaves, she had beliefs she kept private.
One of the older women who was like an aunt to Adia explained,
"This altar has the image of the Christian mother goddess, but it is really an altar to Oshun, the great woman spirit of my people." She gently laid flowers around the statue of Mary.
"While we worship our gods, the masters look on us and smile for they think they
have won our hearts and souls as well as stolen our bodies. Fools."
As the years turned, Adia worked and learned. The chief lesson was that slavery was wrong, always. Ruefully she remembered her own belief that the slavery practiced by her people on captives taken in battle was not so bad as being stolen from her home and sent to a new land. Now she knew better. Slavery was evil, always—a product of the darkest demons.
Her hatred of her enslavement was a simmering flame that she buried deep. If she gave in to anger, she would explode into a violence that would get her killed. Jamaica had known slave revolts in the past, and there would be more in the future. After the day's work, when people gathered to talk and tell tales, they spoke of Tacky's Rebellion, which had taken place several years earlier. With few British troops on the island, Mr. Harris armed twenty of his most trusted slaves so they could fight the rebels. The small troop thanked their master, raised their hats to him—and promptly joined the uprising.
The revolt was put down at the cost of hundreds of lives. After, many of the runaways returned, claiming they had run to avoid being forced to join the rebels. Others hanged themselves in the forest rather than return to slavery. Adia could understand why they did that, but she would choose life and hope.
Her situation improved again when Mrs. Harris needed a new maid for her daughter, Sophie. The previous maid had thoughtlessly died of a fever just as Sophie reached marriageable age, so a replacement was required quickly. To the cook's irritation, Adia was chosen, being young, quick, and presentable. She was given the house name of Addie, which was at least close to her own name, and trained by Mrs. Harris's own maid.
Sophie was the only Harris daughter, but there were three sons. The oldest, Master Charlie, was a high-spirited fellow who often invited parties of young people to the house. Once he kissed Adia in the back hall, murmuring how pretty Addie was and how much he'd like to lie with her, but he accepted her firm
"No!" and never troubled her again.
It was not Mr. Charlie who raped her, but one of his drunken young friends. He was too strong to fight off, but later she made an image daubed with his seed and laid a curse on him. Perhaps that was why the young devil had a serious riding accident not long after. It was whispered among the slaves that, after, he was incapable of having a woman. She hoped so.
She also made herself a beaded bracelet spelled to reduce her attractiveness to men. She knew there was no point in complaining to the masters, but with the protection spell and her own precautions, at least she was not assaulted again.
She rather missed Master Charlie when he sailed for England to study at Cambridge, but there were still two young masters in the household. She was particularly fond of the youngest, Tommy, who reminded her of Chike.
Working in the house was significant in many ways, not least because Adia met many more white people. She came to realize that whites were not all that different from blacks. Having power over slaves brought out the worst in some people, and most whites accepted slavery as natural and right, but the majority were not
One of the older women who was like an aunt to Adia explained,
"This altar has the image of the Christian mother goddess, but it is really an altar to Oshun, the great woman spirit of my people." She gently laid flowers around the statue of Mary.
"While we worship our gods, the masters look on us and smile for they think they
have won our hearts and souls as well as stolen our bodies. Fools."
As the years turned, Adia worked and learned. The chief lesson was that slavery was wrong, always. Ruefully she remembered her own belief that the slavery practiced by her people on captives taken in battle was not so bad as being stolen from her home and sent to a new land. Now she knew better. Slavery was evil, always—a product of the darkest demons.
Her hatred of her enslavement was a simmering flame that she buried deep. If she gave in to anger, she would explode into a violence that would get her killed. Jamaica had known slave revolts in the past, and there would be more in the future. After the day's work, when people gathered to talk and tell tales, they spoke of Tacky's Rebellion, which had taken place several years earlier. With few British troops on the island, Mr. Harris armed twenty of his most trusted slaves so they could fight the rebels. The small troop thanked their master, raised their hats to him—and promptly joined the uprising.
The revolt was put down at the cost of hundreds of lives. After, many of the runaways returned, claiming they had run to avoid being forced to join the rebels. Others hanged themselves in the forest rather than return to slavery. Adia could understand why they did that, but she would choose life and hope.
Her situation improved again when Mrs. Harris needed a new maid for her daughter, Sophie. The previous maid had thoughtlessly died of a fever just as Sophie reached marriageable age, so a replacement was required quickly. To the cook's irritation, Adia was chosen, being young, quick, and presentable. She was given the house name of Addie, which was at least close to her own name, and trained by Mrs. Harris's own maid.
Sophie was the only Harris daughter, but there were three sons. The oldest, Master Charlie, was a high-spirited fellow who often invited parties of young people to the house. Once he kissed Adia in the back hall, murmuring how pretty Addie was and how much he'd like to lie with her, but he accepted her firm
"No!" and never troubled her again.
It was not Mr. Charlie who raped her, but one of his drunken young friends. He was too strong to fight off, but later she made an image daubed with his seed and laid a curse on him. Perhaps that was why the young devil had a serious riding accident not long after. It was whispered among the slaves that, after, he was incapable of having a woman. She hoped so.
She also made herself a beaded bracelet spelled to reduce her attractiveness to men. She knew there was no point in complaining to the masters, but with the protection spell and her own precautions, at least she was not assaulted again.
She rather missed Master Charlie when he sailed for England to study at Cambridge, but there were still two young masters in the household. She was particularly fond of the youngest, Tommy, who reminded her of Chike.
Working in the house was significant in many ways, not least because Adia met many more white people. She came to realize that whites were not all that different from blacks. Having power over slaves brought out the worst in some people, and most whites accepted slavery as natural and right, but the majority were not
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