In a somewhat strained voice, he said, “I want some of the same cunt that Big William’s been getting in the storehouse.”

She shook her head and moved toward the door, but Perkins grabbed her forearm and forced her to her knees, then knocked her down as he brought the butt of the whip against her face. He grabbed her before she could move, dragged her to his bed, and raped her with brutal thrusts of his body. From his actions and epithets, his excitement seemed to come from the suffering he was inflicting. Strangely, even more unpleasant than the intense pain of his blows, her twisted arm, and the sexual attack was the smell of his fetid breath in her face. When he crawled off the low bed and picked up the whip, she turned on her stomach and locked her fingers behind her head. He finally tired of beating her and slumped in a chair in the corner. Perkins made no attempt to stop Quash when she stood, with difficulty, adjusted her shift, and left the cabin.

Back in her quarters, the other women helped her clean and dress her wounds and quickly surmised what had happened. They called in one of the midwives, who ordered Quash to stay in bed for at least a day after the bleeding stopped. When Mrs. Singleton returned, the midwife told her that Quash had some kind of malady and shouldn’t be near the children, and Maggie arranged for her to do light work in the yard and garden until her external wounds healed and she was again presentable enough to work in the big house. Now, though, she was still weak, and the flow of blood resumed each time she spent several hours on normal work in the yard. She was still afraid of the overseer, who was often on his small front porch and seemed to be leering at her when she walked by on the way to or from the big house. One afternoon, Big William was waiting for her and expressed his regret that she had been ill. She was surprised and somewhat disappointed that he had not learned more specifically about her problem, but remembered that this was threshing time, and that he was fully absorbed with the work of the field hands.

As she approached him, he smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re better, and back in the big house.”

She replied, “Yes, I’m better.”

“After dark, you be wid me?”

“I cain’t do it right now.”

“If it’s de rag, I can live wid it.”

Quash decided to tell Big William what had happened, and she was concerned about his reaction.

He finally said, “Nudder tam, ’em be ded.”