CHAPTER NINETEEN
“There wasn’t a trial. No one wanted to hear that the boss raped my wife or that the man he sold her to raped her, beat her, raped children, and beat them. It didn’t matter. We were animals, and I had murdered one of them.”
“Grover, honey, you were not animals. You were treated as an animal, no doubt, but you were not an animal,” said Ruby.
“What I did to that man was only something an animal would do,” said Grover. “They brought me back to boss, he whipped me like I’d never been whipped before. Then, he brought me here to the Square and hanged me from this tree. This is where I’ve been. Right here.”
“I’m so very sorry, Grover,” said Irene. He could only nod and slowly faded from their view.
“I think we need to try and get him to tell us what plantation he was on and who the boss was,” said Ruby.
“You think that will help?” asked Irene.
“I think it will help us to know how all this could be connected. I don’t know, Irene,” she said, shaking her head. “Hearin’ that boy’s story just turns my stomach and makes me so sad. All he wanted to do was go to England and make his fortune for his family.”
“Mama Irene? Miss Ruby? I found a few things on Grisella St. Jean. She was only seventeen when Grover left home. He’s listed as lost at sea. They thought he was dead.”
“That’s just horrible,” said Irene.
“The sister married a merchant from Jamaica. They lived there for a while and then traveled and lived in Australia, where they had six children. By all accounts, they were happy and healthy.”
“Maybe that will help to make him feel better,” said Ruby. “Anything on where he lived around here?”
“I’m sorry, Miss Ruby. I’m still looking, but records on slaves weren’t exactly reliable. They would simply list them as male or female and an approximate age.”
“I hate this. I hate all of it,” she muttered. Irene held her hand, not saying anything. What was there to say? How could you erase that kind of history for a woman who wasn’t all that far removed from it?
“I’ll keep looking.”
“Thank you, baby,” said Irene. She looked up to see the new shift of guardians coming into the Square. Gabriel, Pierre, and Raphael were leaving for the day.
“See you tomorrow, Mama!” called Pierre.
“See you tomorrow, baby.” She looked at Ruby, her face still a mask of pain. “Go on now, Ruby. Go home to Sven and get yourself right. I’ll be fine here.”
Ruby nodded at Irene, giving her a big hug. She looked down at the boys, Angel, Trak, and David, smiling up at her.
“Y’all hold that ladder,” she called down.
“Yes, ma’am,” said David. Ruby looked back at Irene and gave a small smile.
“I’ll be okay. You know I will,” she said, smiling at the other woman.
While David held the ladder, Trak took Ruby’s hand on the final step and walked with her toward the waiting car with the departing security team. David walked up the ladder and smiled at Irene.
“Anything I can get you, Mama Irene?”
“I’m fine, baby.”
“Are you sure? You look upset by something,” he said.
“It’s a lot to take in,” said Irene. David took a seat at the edge of the platform, and Angel stepped up on the ladder to listen. “You were both in war, you fought.”
“You know we did, Mama Irene,” said Angel.
“Why do men intentionally hurt other men who have done nothing to them? Men whose only crime is the color of their skin, or their birthplace, or their religion. Why?”
“If we knew that, we’d be able to create world peace,” said Angel. “You know that free will isn’t always a good thing. Men with evil in their hearts, or women, are bound to do what they like even if it isn’t right.”
“Why are you asking?” asked David.
Irene told them the story of Grover’s death. Even for battle-hardened men, they cringed at what the man had suffered. Trak had returned and was listening as well. More than anyone, he knew the pain of the lashes on his back.
“What Ruby and me don’t understand is why is Hampton so determined to get rid of this tree? He wasn’t alive when Grover was hanged here. It shouldn’t mean anything to him.”
“Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with Grover,” said Angel.
“I don’t know,” frowned Irene. “Somehow, I think it does. Hampton is who he is. He is the age he is. This isn’t a situation like Marcel’s, where we got voodoo and witchcraft interfering. He’s a man, flesh and blood.”
The sun was setting, allowing for the cooler breeze to reach beneath the tree and make things more comfortable for Irene. She was just about to doze off when she heard the boys arguing with someone below. Looking down, she saw Hampton.
“What’s he want?” asked Irene.
“He wants to speak with you,” said David.
“Well, speak. I ain’t deaf. What do you want?” she asked.
“I wish to speak to you. Here. On the ground,” said Hampton. “I believe we can reach an agreement.”
“If this agreement doesn’t include you leaving the tree, the Square, the park, and the church alone, then there is no agreement.”
“You’re being unreasonable!” he yelled.
Irene watched as Grover circled the man, staring at his face. He leaned forward and whispered in Hampton’s ear. Irene watched as Hampton waved a hand over his ear, shaking his head.
Grover stepped back, staring at the man, frowning. He stepped forward again and this time, yelled so loud that they all heard him.
“You are the son of the devil!”