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Back When the Reckoning Comes Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. They are coming.
  5. I.
  6. II.
  7. III.
  8. Once, they stole away.
  9. IV.
  10. V.
  11. VI.
  12. VII.
  13. VIII.
  14. IX.
  15. X.
  16. XI.
  17. XII.
  18. Those who stayed behind found their own ways to resist.
  19. XIII.
  20. XIV.
  21. They remembered the feeling of their beloveds sold,
  22. XV.
  23. XVI.
  24. XVII.
  25. XVIII.
  26. XIX.
  27. XX.
  28. It took the babies drowning for the rest to say, Enough.
  29. XXI.
  30. XXII.
  31. XXIII.
  32. Tools meant for work became seen as weapons.
  33. XXIV.
  34. XXV.
  35. XXVI.
  36. XXVII.
  37. XXVIII.
  38. When they were caught, punishment was swift and severe in its execution.
  39. XXIX.
  40. Soon it would be morning, and those left behind would prepare for another day.
  41. Acknowledgments
  42. About the Author
  43. Also by LaTanya McQueen
  44. About the Publisher

“Us?” Jesse repeated. “You think you’re one of them? Just because your daughter is getting married to a Hunnicutt doesn’t mean they’ll ever look at you as anything beyond what you are—a poor drunk. How foolish can you be?”

“That’s enough,” Phillip interrupted. “Maybe you should go. It seems like you’re not wanted.”

“Celine?” Jesse said, but she remained quiet. By this point whatever she could have said wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Damn right you’re not wanted,” Mr. Tatum scoffed.

Jesse suppressed a laugh. He scanned his growing audience and Mira could see the contempt he’d tried to hide earlier. Mira thought for a second he’d paused, seeing her, but he moved away before she could be sure. He quickly surveyed everyone before stopping at Celine.

“Well, okay, then,” Jesse said. He straightened his posture in an attempt to compose himself.

Silence followed in the few minutes after he left. Everyone awkwardly waited for the tension to end. They passed glances at one another, shifted in their seats. Slowly, a few reached for their glasses, pressing their drinks to their lips to take long sips. Others lifted their knives and forks to cut into their entrées, the metal scraping against porcelain plates as they sliced chunks of beef to put in their mouths. The low murmur soon escalated into a cacophony of voices. Conversations started again. Laughter filled the room. Before long what everyone had witnessed had faded.

“Well,” Phillip said to Mr. Tatum. “He’s gone. Like you wanted. You want to sit down now? Come on, here’s a seat. Sit down and try and enjoy the rest of the night before it’s over.”

Mr. Tatum went and sat in the chair Phillip had pulled out. He was sullen but he didn’t say anything else. Phillip clapped his hands before signaling to the band to play a song.

Celine held Phillip’s hand and together they walked to the center of the dance floor. They moved side to side, dancing in rhythm to the music. Phillip pulled her close and she put her head against his chest.

To onlookers, it was a beautiful scene—the glimmer of gold and silver against the dimmed lights, the two of them, clearly in love, holding each other as the music swelled to a fever pitch.