Perkins was shrewd and devious and seemed to have two almost completely different characters. He was quiet, well mannered, deferential, and addressed the slaves firmly but politely in the presence of the owner’s family. But even with these best efforts to make a good first impression, he was a decidedly unpleasant man. Tall and thin, he had a long, aquiline nose that hooked down over a straggly and drooping mustache. His most unattractive feature was his mouth. He had obviously been struck a severe blow in his earlier years, and his upper lip was thrust to the left side and greatly enlarged, which made the lower part of his face seem strangely diminished. Perkins was acutely aware of this defect and had an acquired habit of keeping one of his hands in front of his mouth, ostensibly to rub his nose or to stroke his mustache. This also helped to conceal his crooked and blackened teeth, discolored by a lifetime of chewing tobacco and a habitual lack of cleanliness.

When away from his employer, Perkins almost constantly abused those under his direction, apparently convinced that they would be more productive if afraid and intimidated. Slaves on the plantation were disturbed and resentful of the changes that Perkins had brought. The one among them who was most knowledgeable and personally involved was Big William. A slave himself, he had earned the confidence he enjoyed by hard work, intelligence, and an ability to perform his duties harmoniously with others in the closed plantation community. Perkins had been there only a few weeks when Mr. Singleton abruptly rejected his request to choose another slave as the work supervisor. The response was clear. “William will be head driver as long as I own this land. You’ll have to get along with him.”

•  •  •

Quash was satisfied with her work in the big house. Hopewell plantation was known to produce as much of the slaves’ rations as possible, and adequate cropland was set aside for this purpose. Unlike most other plantations, Hopewell had a cane mill where a large quantity of molasses was distilled, and enough sweet potatoes were grown and carefully stored to last almost the entire year. Everyone on the plantation knew that the basic weekly quota for each slave was a peck of corn, a quart of molasses, and at least two pounds of pork, with twice as much beef sometimes substituted for pork. In addition, turnips, sweet potatoes, okra, and peas were grown in the large central garden, and extra rice during harvest season. The key to their diet was pork, which provided grease and was used to flavor the vegetables, and Quash had recently overheard Singleton tell Perkins to increase the pork allotment to three pounds a week. Instead, the slaves were still being issued only two pounds.