Privilege

Abigail was up late, she couldn’t sleep. The wailing had gotten worse, when was the old cow going to accept that her baby wasn’t hers. Lack of sleep made Abagail frustrated, that was all, it wasn't like she was cruel.

A part of her felt for the mother, because Abigail wasn’t cruel. Any living being would be upset to have their offspring ripped from them right after birth even if they weren’t fully human. She turned over to Joseph and shook him.

“I can’t make it stop,” he mumbled.

“You can,” she whispered. He got out of bed, and she said, “don’t be too harsh.” Because she was kind, she wasn’t cruel. She just needed sleep, she was having tea at the club the next day with her friends. Breeding them and then selling them brought in the most money, it wasn’t her fault. This was the way the world worked. It wasn’t on her shoulders to bear the guilt, she put up with enough hearing the heifer’s screams every time they took away another of her babies to sell at auction. This was the burden of being the lady of a plantation.

The next day the wailing had stopped, thank goodness and Abigail went outside to check on things before her tea at the club. Several of the females were gathered in one of the houses, that one. The one where she was, the wailer. They must have felt for her, Abigail felt for her as well. She went over and shooed all the women out of there. They had work to do after all. She went and sat on the bed with the wailing woman who was now silent and staring up at the ceiling. There were tears streaming down her face on each side.

"You know this isn't the first time, I would think you'd be used to it by now," Abigail said.

"You are EVIL," the woman said, and Abigail slapped her suddenly. Her face didn't even flinch. She just stared hatefully at Abigail. A shiver ran through her and she stood up. After taking care of this woman all these years and giving her food and a place to live, what gave her the right to speak like that to her mistress? Abigail was a good woman, everyone said so, especially in high society. She gave to charity and made sure her husband and the other workers didn't beat the slaves too bad. She was one of the kindest plantation mistresses in the county.

Maybe that was the issue? This woman was too used to kind Abigail and forgot her place, they sometimes do that if you're too nice. Which wasn't Abigail's fault either. She went inside, shaking a little bit all over. She told herself it was nonsense to get so worked up over something one of them said. What did she know? She couldn't even read, it wasn't allowed.

****

Two hundred years later, Abigail’s descendant sees the woman on the news crying, she shakes her head and tsks. If only that poor mother had raised her child better, he wouldn’t be a criminal who got shot by the police. But she feels a little sad, because she’s kind, she’s not a bad person. Just like Abigail two hundred years before, she knows she isn’t cruel, this is just the way the world works. She can stand the crying no longer and turns off the tv, the sound is getting to her, her pity is the burden of being a good person. But she has to get some sleep for her daughters of the confederacy meeting the next day.