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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

The white man nodded and walked off out of sight. When he returned, he had a band of other slaves following behind him in teams of two, with each twosome carrying a large burlap sack. They grunted as they walked, straining from the weight of what they carried. He signaled for the slaves to drop their sacks and they pounded against the ground. Then, he called to those in the hole. “Enough,” he said. “I’m done with this. I’ve got other plans for today than to watch you all work.”

The slaves were pulled out, and the hole was empty.

“Which one of these is him?” he said. “Do any of you know? The one who organized it?”

“He’s here, sir,” a slave said, eager to achieve some small favor as he pointed to the final sack.

“Pull the cover away. Let me see.”

The others crowded around, blocking Mira’s view, as they pulled off the sack. Mira couldn’t see his face but she could see the expression of a few of the others as they recoiled in horror. One could not contain himself and turned away, retching in the grass.

“You’re going to look!” the white man told them all. “Look, and see what your future will be if you try to escape again. Look hard now. All of you. Look.”

Mira watched as they stared down at what was once covered. Their faces sullen, pained, angry, but whatever they felt, they never expressed a word. When the white man was satisfied, he called again to one of the slaves. Mira thought it was over but the slave brought an ax and handed it to him.

“This will be a lesson to all of you,” he said, holding the ax high in the air, the blade’s metal blinding her from seeing more.

Fear told her to do what she’d always done—run, and she did, running as fast as her legs could take her through the uncertainty of the woods. She ran, putting as much distance as she could between her and what she’d left behind.

Behind her, the singing continued, a chorus rising.

Master he be a hard, hard man. Hoe, Emma, hoe. Lord strike down Pharaoh and set them free. Hoe, Emma, hoe.

Those who stayed behind found their own ways to resist.