Queen by Alex Haley
provisions, and there was an eating area for whites, a few tables, with not
very clean clothes. A welldressed woman was sitting at one of the tables,
trying to feed warm milk to a baby on her knee. Queen went to the counter.
"Where c'n I eat?" she asked the server.
He looked at her in mild surprise, and then saw Abner, and understood.
"Niggers in back," he said, nodding to the back of the store. Queen began
walking there, but the woman at the table spoke, sharply and clearly.
"She may sit here, with me."
The server was alarmed, but he could tell from the woman's accent and
attitude that she was not to be trifled with.
"Ma'am, she cain't," he said. "She's nigra."
"We are all equal now. Or had you not heard?" the woman
686 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
said to the server, but Queen didn't think she sounded generous. The woman
turned to Queen. "Come here, girl."
Like the server, Queen was not anxious to argue with the woman. Very few
people, she was to discover later, ever did, and anyway, Queen was
intrigued. She walked to the woman's table. The woman examined her
carefully, and Abner.
" Extraordinary," she said. " If it were not for the child--
Queen knew she meant that no one would guess her color. She felt quite
pleased. The woman picked up a menu.
"What will you have?" she said. "There's-"
Queen thought she might fight back a little, so that this imperious woman
did not get the wrong impression of her.
"I c'n read," she said. The woman smiled, passed her the menu, and
invited her to sit. She turned her attention to her own baby, and Queen
sneaked a few glances at her, over the menu. The woman looked up, and
caught Queen's stare. Queen dropped her eyes to the menu, and the woman
smiled to herself.
"How old is he?" she asked of Abner.
"Ten months," Queen said.
"Is he weaned?"
Queen was shocked. She thought it a very personal question for such a
short acquaintance, and she shook her head. The woman nodded, and thought
for a moment.
"I don't suppose you're looking for a job?" she asked Queen, who wasn't
sure how to reply. She could use the money, but she wanted to find Davis.
"I's going North," she responded ambivalently.
"This would only distract you for a while," the woman said. "A few weeks
at most, until I get back to Atlanta. I cannot feed my boy, William."
She smiled at the baby on her lap, and put a spoon of warm milk to his
mouth.
"I have a wet nurse," the woman continued, "but she's uppity, and her
milk's a little sour. Anyway, William doesn't like it. I pay quite well."
Queen was astonished by her frankness, and found herself attracted to it,
She was wary of employers, but the presence of the boy child alleviated
some of her caution. Some, but not
QUEEN 687
all. She thought about it for a moment. If the woman paid well, she could
save some money, and if she was only wanted for a few weeks, it would not
unreasonably delay her search for Davis. She was tempted to say yes, but had
to be careful.
"'Scuse me for asking, maam," she said politely. "But is you very
religious?"
The wornan thought the question impertinent, but liked Queen's spirit.
"It's none of your business, but yes, I believe in the Lord."
That worried Queen.
"Is you on a mission to black folk? Savin' their souls?" she inquired
carefully.
ne woman was incredulous. She stared at Queen for a moment, and then
laughed, in open derision.
"I don't believe you nigras have souls," she said.
That was a considerable relief to Queen. She understood people who thought
like that-she had been brought up with them-and she preferred that attitude
to Miss Mandy's missionary zeal. She laughed with the woman, but for
different reasons.
"That's all right," she said. "We could work for you. Fo' a little while."
"Good," the woman said, puzzled by her, or at least by her laughter. "I
think I'm pleased. I am Mrs. Benson. Can you start immediately? We are
traveling to Beaufort, and have stopped for lunch."
Queen agreed that she could, and gave her name. Mrs. Benson sent her to the
nigra tables, telling Queen to order what she liked, she would pay for it.
Queen was pleased, and as she walked to the back of the store, she
whispered to Abner that they had just got lucky.
Mrs. Benson was pleased too; it solved a very difficult problem. She had not
told Queen the exact truth. A wet nurse, Plick, had been with her when they
started out from Atlanta, but she didn't have one now. Plick had a six-month
baby of her own, and was difficult, uppity, forever making speeches about
the new equality of blacks, and demanding her rights. William didn't like
her. Nor did Mr. Benson, who had demanded her dismissal. It had all come to
a head that morning,
688 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
and Plick had left in high dudgeon, leaving Mrs. Benson stranded in the
middle of nowhere with an eight-month-old baby to feed. The situation was
so desperate that Mrs. Benson thought she might have to desert her
husband, even though he needed her sorely, and return to Atlanta. She'd
come to the caf6 to be alone while her husband met with some associates,
and this white creature had come in with an unweaned, nigra child, and was
looking for a job.
"The Lord moves in mysterious ways," Mrs. Benson said to William.
William was completely satisfied with the new arrangement, and snuggled
happily to Queen's breast before they resumed their journey. Abner wasn't
jealous, Mrs. Benson was pleased, Micah was friendly to Queen, and Mr.
Benson ignored her. The only unpleasant thing was the humidity, which was
completely enervating. Shortly before they reached Beaufort, two days
later, a blessed rain shower cleared the air, but it was still hot.
As they rode into the town, Queen began to share some of Micah's
apprehension, for there was an atmosphere of tension and potential
violence. Small groups of strikers stood on street comers, singing and
chanting, and shouting their grievances. Other groups of white men
harangued them, and once a scuffle broke out between the two groups. A
couple of armed sheriffs ignored the fray. Beyond that the streets were
deserted, as if the good citizens of the town were staying inside, to
avoid trouble, or perhaps the weather.
Micah guided the coach to the hotel, which appeared deserted, but as soon
as they arrived bellhops came running out to handle the luggage. Micah
helped Queen and Abner down from the box, while Mr. Benson jumped out and
went to greet a couple of businessmen who had come out of the hotel.
Queen and Micah helped Mrs. Benson and William from the carriage, and
Mrs. Benson looked at the town.
She didn't seem impressed by what she saw, but gave William to Queen,
squared her shoulders, and organized the bellhops,
calling out
instructions for the luggage. There were some shouts from across the
street, and another fight. Two black strikers were beating up a white
redneck, and again, no one interfered.
QUEEN 689
Mr. Benson watched the fight, and seemed to be appraising the situation.
As he turned back to his associates, he caught Queen's eye, and she
shivered, for the look on his face frightened her. He said something to
his friends, and then told Mrs. Benson to see the rooms while he talked
with his friends. The men walked away, deep in conversation. Mrs. Benson
told Queen to come along, and swept into the hotel, which was the best
the town had to offer. Queen, carrying Abner and William, followed.
Inside, the manager himself greeted Mrs. Benson, and the fon-nalities of
checking in were quickly attended to. The manager led the way upstairs,
Queen followed with the boys, and Micah, who was directing the bellhops,
and Queen began to think that Mrs. Benson must be a very important lady.
The suite was spacious, a sitting room and two bedrooms. Mrs. Benson came
into it with the retinue of staff and the obsequious manager, who was
telling her how splendid the rooms were. Mrs. Benson was not impressed,
and the heat made her tetchy. Queen waited to be told what to do, and
Abner began to cry.
"If these are your best, they'll have to do," she told the unhappy
manager, "but they're not what we're used to." She looked into the master
bedroom.
"Our finest suite, ma'am," he insisted, but Mrs. Benson ignored him and
ran a gloved finger over a table.
"Filthy," she snapped, "hasn't been dusted in weeks. I want maids in here
now."
She looked into the second room. "And my nigras?" she asked the manager.
"Tolerable accommodations in back, ma'am," he said, wishing she'd go
away. He had a headache from the heat.
Mrs. Benson pointed to the room that was to be the nursery and turned to
Queen. "Get William settled in there," she said.
"Abner's hungry, Missy," Queen began, but Mrs. Benson wasn't interested
in Abner's problems. Or Queen's. Or anyone else's.
"Then Abner will have to wait," she said. "William comes first, at all
times. You know that."
She went into the bedroom, commanding the manager to follow her by the
sheer tone of her voice.
690 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
"I will need a baby carriage for my son, and good supply of clean towels"
was the last Queen heard. She took the boys into the nursery room, and laid
them on the bed. She changed William's linen, got him ready for bed, and
offered to feed him, but he wasn't hungry. She did not dare feed Abner
while Mrs. Benson was in her present mood.
She ran to Mrs. Benson's orders for an hour, and then one of the bellhops
showed her to her tolerable accommodations, which were intolerable, and had
been the old slave quarters, tin shacks at the back of the hotel. The
waning afternoon had not relieved the heat, and Queen's room was an oven.
Like everyone else, Queen was on the edge of her temper, for the weather
was unbearable, and Abner was still crying.
She opened a tiny lid in the roof that was the only ventilation, grumbling
about Mrs. Benson's commands, and then sat on the bed to feed Abner.
"Bossy ol' bitch," she said to herself about her employer, as her son took
his fill. She looked about the awful room.
"Hotter'n Hades," she said. "How's a body s'pposed to sleep?" She rested
her head back against the wall, and sang a little lullaby to Abner until he
was done, and then she changed him, and settled him on a pillow on the
floor. She thought she might feel better if she had a wash, and opened the
door to find the black washhouse, when Micah came to her.
"She want you, Missy Queen," he said. He looked tired and frayed, for his
Missy had been difficult. "She gwine shoppin'. "
Queen began to understand why the other wet nurse had left Mrs. Benson's
employ. She wondered what to do about Abner, but would not leave him on his
own, so, toting him on her hip, she went to find Mrs. Benson, who was in
the lobby complaining about the quality of the soap.
The world, or the hotel, had jumped to Mrs. Benson's command. A baby
carriage had been found for William, and Abner was allowed the use of it.
Once the boys were comfortable and the matter of the soap resolved, Mrs.
Benson went out onto the street, with Queen following, pushing the carriage.
Micah went with them, although Queen wasn't sure why, but he helped her with
the baby carriage.
QUEEN 691
There were very few people about, just some strikers walking as if with
some purpose to somewhere else, and three or four white bystanders,
jeering them. Queen saw a couple of sheriffs, with their guns, moving
quickly to someplace in the town, and there were shouts and cheers coming
from that direction.
Queen would have walked the other way, but to her surprise Mrs. Benson
walked toward the distant noise, looking for a shop that suited her list.
As they crossed the street, a black beggar approached her.
"Spare some change, Missy," he pleaded with Mrs. Benson. "I ain't et in
a week."
"Then get back to work," Mrs. Benson told him briskly, without breaking
her stride. "Lazy nigras," she said to no one in particular, and Queen
flushed. Abner and William were asleep, side by side, in the carriage.
Mrs. Benson stopped to look in the window of a provisions store.
"I want good milk," she told Queen. "I don't trust that hotel. And fresh
fruit-there must be some fresh fruit somewhere."
Queen looked in the window. There was a display of fine peaches.
"Here," she suggested, but Mrs. Benson glanced at the name on the sign
above the store.
"No," Mrs. Benson said. "Not here. They are Semitic."
She walked on. Queen glanced back at the sign, but the name painted on
it meant nothing to her.
"What's Semitic?" she asked Mrs. Benson.
"Jews," Mrs. Benson said. "Semites. We do not give them our business. I'm
sure there's somewhere else."
They walked on, and came closer to the shouting and cheering. Queen could
see a large group of men gathered, having a street meeting. Mrs. Benson
found a store that suited her, and made her purchases. There was no
respite from the heat, and inside the store was hotter than outside.
Shopping done, Mrs. Benson came out with Queen to check her list. Abner
had wakened, and Queen picked him up and rocked him while she waited for
Mrs. Benson. As she did so, she watched the men at the meeting, and
wondered what it was all about. A black man had climbed onto a box, and
was making a speech to the strikers.
692 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
Sheriffs stood watching, guns ready. White workingmen jeered the speaker.
"You all know our cause," the speaker told the strikers. "Decent pay fo' a
&nbs
p; decent's day's work."
The strikers cheered.
"Cash money, instead of checks that can only be redeemed at plantation
stores," the speaker shouted, and the strikers cheered again.
Mrs. Benson glanced at the speaker, and then went back to ticking things
off on her list.
"They're the ones that should be shot," she said absently, to Queen. "The
ringleaders."
But Queen was not listening. She was fascinated by the voice of the
speaker.
"They promised us better things in better times, but those better days
never come," the speaker proclaimed. "And I am overflowing with their
unkept promises."
It was Davis; Queen was sure of it. She could not see his face clearly, but
his voice was as familiar to her as her own. She had found him at last, and
her heart, was beating fast, while her shoulders sagged in relief. She
listened to the words pour out of him, in impassioned oratory.
"I don't care what they say they will do," Davis told his rapt audience. "I
judge them only by what they have done. And until now they have done
nothing. So from now, we take. But we take only what is rightfully ours,
what is rightfully due to us, only what we have been promised."
He was a beautiful and eloquent speaker. All the deep anger and passion
that had churned within him for so many years had finally found its outlet.
Queen's eyes sparkled with pride and pricked with tears. She moved a little
closer, off the sidewalk, onto the road to see him better. She wanted to
run to him, to throw herself into his arms, to tell him how much she loved
him. But she could not do that here, in public. Her business with him was
private.
And there was something else, something more important, to do. She held
Abner up, high in the air, as high as she could, so that he might see the
man and hear his voice.
Mrs. Benson looked up from her list, and was puzzled to see Queen standing
in the road holding her son in the air.
QUEEN 693
"Come along, Queen, don't dawdle," she called, but Queen did not hear
her, or if she did, she did not respond. Mrs. Benson clucked in
irritation, and moved closer to Queen, to fetch her.
Queen had eyes only for Davis and mind for Abner.
"It is now!" Davis cried, and the strikers cheered him louder than ever.
Oblivious to everything but her boy and his father, Queen cried out to
Abner. "Look, boy, it's yo' pappy!"
Abner was not the only one who heard this news. Mrs. Benson heard it too,
and smiled a small astonished smile of curious excitement. And the look
in her eyes was triumphant.
81
Oueen wanted to stay, to try to make some contact with Davis, but the
cheering strikers led him away, and Mrs. Benson was anxious to be gone.
As they walked back to the hotel, Mrs. Benson chatted happily with Queen,
and did not discuss what they had seen, or anything about the strike. As
they were about to go into the hotel, she casually asked if Queen knew the
man who had been speaking. Queen wasn't quite sure what to say. She
recognized that her actions with Abner must have been puzzling to Mrs.
Benson, and admitted that she thought she had met the man once, a long
time ago, but was mistaken. Mrs. Benson seemed satisfied, and they went
into the hotel.
Queen's nerves were jangling, with anticipation because she was so close
to Davis, and dread that he might not want to see her again. She tried
to work out her feelings toward him, but she was too excited to be
rational. She loved him stillshe was sure of that-loved him even more
perhaps, for his speech had inspired her, and she was so proud of him it
made her heart sing. She could not imagine what he would think of her,
or of Abner, and she fretted that he might resent the boy.
694 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
She felt a spasm of anger then. Even if Davis did not want to accept
parentage, Abner was the reason he had left Huntsville and traveled on the
road to his true vocation, so he should be grateful for that, at least. Then
she remembered the courtesy and kindness that Davis had always shown her,
very clean clothes. A welldressed woman was sitting at one of the tables,
trying to feed warm milk to a baby on her knee. Queen went to the counter.
"Where c'n I eat?" she asked the server.
He looked at her in mild surprise, and then saw Abner, and understood.
"Niggers in back," he said, nodding to the back of the store. Queen began
walking there, but the woman at the table spoke, sharply and clearly.
"She may sit here, with me."
The server was alarmed, but he could tell from the woman's accent and
attitude that she was not to be trifled with.
"Ma'am, she cain't," he said. "She's nigra."
"We are all equal now. Or had you not heard?" the woman
686 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
said to the server, but Queen didn't think she sounded generous. The woman
turned to Queen. "Come here, girl."
Like the server, Queen was not anxious to argue with the woman. Very few
people, she was to discover later, ever did, and anyway, Queen was
intrigued. She walked to the woman's table. The woman examined her
carefully, and Abner.
" Extraordinary," she said. " If it were not for the child--
Queen knew she meant that no one would guess her color. She felt quite
pleased. The woman picked up a menu.
"What will you have?" she said. "There's-"
Queen thought she might fight back a little, so that this imperious woman
did not get the wrong impression of her.
"I c'n read," she said. The woman smiled, passed her the menu, and
invited her to sit. She turned her attention to her own baby, and Queen
sneaked a few glances at her, over the menu. The woman looked up, and
caught Queen's stare. Queen dropped her eyes to the menu, and the woman
smiled to herself.
"How old is he?" she asked of Abner.
"Ten months," Queen said.
"Is he weaned?"
Queen was shocked. She thought it a very personal question for such a
short acquaintance, and she shook her head. The woman nodded, and thought
for a moment.
"I don't suppose you're looking for a job?" she asked Queen, who wasn't
sure how to reply. She could use the money, but she wanted to find Davis.
"I's going North," she responded ambivalently.
"This would only distract you for a while," the woman said. "A few weeks
at most, until I get back to Atlanta. I cannot feed my boy, William."
She smiled at the baby on her lap, and put a spoon of warm milk to his
mouth.
"I have a wet nurse," the woman continued, "but she's uppity, and her
milk's a little sour. Anyway, William doesn't like it. I pay quite well."
Queen was astonished by her frankness, and found herself attracted to it,
She was wary of employers, but the presence of the boy child alleviated
some of her caution. Some, but not
QUEEN 687
all. She thought about it for a moment. If the woman paid well, she could
save some money, and if she was only wanted for a few weeks, it would not
unreasonably delay her search for Davis. She was tempted to say yes, but had
to be careful.
"'Scuse me for asking, maam," she said politely. "But is you very
religious?"
The wornan thought the question impertinent, but liked Queen's spirit.
"It's none of your business, but yes, I believe in the Lord."
That worried Queen.
"Is you on a mission to black folk? Savin' their souls?" she inquired
carefully.
ne woman was incredulous. She stared at Queen for a moment, and then
laughed, in open derision.
"I don't believe you nigras have souls," she said.
That was a considerable relief to Queen. She understood people who thought
like that-she had been brought up with them-and she preferred that attitude
to Miss Mandy's missionary zeal. She laughed with the woman, but for
different reasons.
"That's all right," she said. "We could work for you. Fo' a little while."
"Good," the woman said, puzzled by her, or at least by her laughter. "I
think I'm pleased. I am Mrs. Benson. Can you start immediately? We are
traveling to Beaufort, and have stopped for lunch."
Queen agreed that she could, and gave her name. Mrs. Benson sent her to the
nigra tables, telling Queen to order what she liked, she would pay for it.
Queen was pleased, and as she walked to the back of the store, she
whispered to Abner that they had just got lucky.
Mrs. Benson was pleased too; it solved a very difficult problem. She had not
told Queen the exact truth. A wet nurse, Plick, had been with her when they
started out from Atlanta, but she didn't have one now. Plick had a six-month
baby of her own, and was difficult, uppity, forever making speeches about
the new equality of blacks, and demanding her rights. William didn't like
her. Nor did Mr. Benson, who had demanded her dismissal. It had all come to
a head that morning,
688 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
and Plick had left in high dudgeon, leaving Mrs. Benson stranded in the
middle of nowhere with an eight-month-old baby to feed. The situation was
so desperate that Mrs. Benson thought she might have to desert her
husband, even though he needed her sorely, and return to Atlanta. She'd
come to the caf6 to be alone while her husband met with some associates,
and this white creature had come in with an unweaned, nigra child, and was
looking for a job.
"The Lord moves in mysterious ways," Mrs. Benson said to William.
William was completely satisfied with the new arrangement, and snuggled
happily to Queen's breast before they resumed their journey. Abner wasn't
jealous, Mrs. Benson was pleased, Micah was friendly to Queen, and Mr.
Benson ignored her. The only unpleasant thing was the humidity, which was
completely enervating. Shortly before they reached Beaufort, two days
later, a blessed rain shower cleared the air, but it was still hot.
As they rode into the town, Queen began to share some of Micah's
apprehension, for there was an atmosphere of tension and potential
violence. Small groups of strikers stood on street comers, singing and
chanting, and shouting their grievances. Other groups of white men
harangued them, and once a scuffle broke out between the two groups. A
couple of armed sheriffs ignored the fray. Beyond that the streets were
deserted, as if the good citizens of the town were staying inside, to
avoid trouble, or perhaps the weather.
Micah guided the coach to the hotel, which appeared deserted, but as soon
as they arrived bellhops came running out to handle the luggage. Micah
helped Queen and Abner down from the box, while Mr. Benson jumped out and
went to greet a couple of businessmen who had come out of the hotel.
Queen and Micah helped Mrs. Benson and William from the carriage, and
Mrs. Benson looked at the town.
She didn't seem impressed by what she saw, but gave William to Queen,
squared her shoulders, and organized the bellhops,
instructions for the luggage. There were some shouts from across the
street, and another fight. Two black strikers were beating up a white
redneck, and again, no one interfered.
QUEEN 689
Mr. Benson watched the fight, and seemed to be appraising the situation.
As he turned back to his associates, he caught Queen's eye, and she
shivered, for the look on his face frightened her. He said something to
his friends, and then told Mrs. Benson to see the rooms while he talked
with his friends. The men walked away, deep in conversation. Mrs. Benson
told Queen to come along, and swept into the hotel, which was the best
the town had to offer. Queen, carrying Abner and William, followed.
Inside, the manager himself greeted Mrs. Benson, and the fon-nalities of
checking in were quickly attended to. The manager led the way upstairs,
Queen followed with the boys, and Micah, who was directing the bellhops,
and Queen began to think that Mrs. Benson must be a very important lady.
The suite was spacious, a sitting room and two bedrooms. Mrs. Benson came
into it with the retinue of staff and the obsequious manager, who was
telling her how splendid the rooms were. Mrs. Benson was not impressed,
and the heat made her tetchy. Queen waited to be told what to do, and
Abner began to cry.
"If these are your best, they'll have to do," she told the unhappy
manager, "but they're not what we're used to." She looked into the master
bedroom.
"Our finest suite, ma'am," he insisted, but Mrs. Benson ignored him and
ran a gloved finger over a table.
"Filthy," she snapped, "hasn't been dusted in weeks. I want maids in here
now."
She looked into the second room. "And my nigras?" she asked the manager.
"Tolerable accommodations in back, ma'am," he said, wishing she'd go
away. He had a headache from the heat.
Mrs. Benson pointed to the room that was to be the nursery and turned to
Queen. "Get William settled in there," she said.
"Abner's hungry, Missy," Queen began, but Mrs. Benson wasn't interested
in Abner's problems. Or Queen's. Or anyone else's.
"Then Abner will have to wait," she said. "William comes first, at all
times. You know that."
She went into the bedroom, commanding the manager to follow her by the
sheer tone of her voice.
690 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
"I will need a baby carriage for my son, and good supply of clean towels"
was the last Queen heard. She took the boys into the nursery room, and laid
them on the bed. She changed William's linen, got him ready for bed, and
offered to feed him, but he wasn't hungry. She did not dare feed Abner
while Mrs. Benson was in her present mood.
She ran to Mrs. Benson's orders for an hour, and then one of the bellhops
showed her to her tolerable accommodations, which were intolerable, and had
been the old slave quarters, tin shacks at the back of the hotel. The
waning afternoon had not relieved the heat, and Queen's room was an oven.
Like everyone else, Queen was on the edge of her temper, for the weather
was unbearable, and Abner was still crying.
She opened a tiny lid in the roof that was the only ventilation, grumbling
about Mrs. Benson's commands, and then sat on the bed to feed Abner.
"Bossy ol' bitch," she said to herself about her employer, as her son took
his fill. She looked about the awful room.
"Hotter'n Hades," she said. "How's a body s'pposed to sleep?" She rested
her head back against the wall, and sang a little lullaby to Abner until he
was done, and then she changed him, and settled him on a pillow on the
floor. She thought she might feel better if she had a wash, and opened the
door to find the black washhouse, when Micah came to her.
"She want you, Missy Queen," he said. He looked tired and frayed, for his
Missy had been difficult. "She gwine shoppin'. "
Queen began to understand why the other wet nurse had left Mrs. Benson's
employ. She wondered what to do about Abner, but would not leave him on his
own, so, toting him on her hip, she went to find Mrs. Benson, who was in
the lobby complaining about the quality of the soap.
The world, or the hotel, had jumped to Mrs. Benson's command. A baby
carriage had been found for William, and Abner was allowed the use of it.
Once the boys were comfortable and the matter of the soap resolved, Mrs.
Benson went out onto the street, with Queen following, pushing the carriage.
Micah went with them, although Queen wasn't sure why, but he helped her with
the baby carriage.
QUEEN 691
There were very few people about, just some strikers walking as if with
some purpose to somewhere else, and three or four white bystanders,
jeering them. Queen saw a couple of sheriffs, with their guns, moving
quickly to someplace in the town, and there were shouts and cheers coming
from that direction.
Queen would have walked the other way, but to her surprise Mrs. Benson
walked toward the distant noise, looking for a shop that suited her list.
As they crossed the street, a black beggar approached her.
"Spare some change, Missy," he pleaded with Mrs. Benson. "I ain't et in
a week."
"Then get back to work," Mrs. Benson told him briskly, without breaking
her stride. "Lazy nigras," she said to no one in particular, and Queen
flushed. Abner and William were asleep, side by side, in the carriage.
Mrs. Benson stopped to look in the window of a provisions store.
"I want good milk," she told Queen. "I don't trust that hotel. And fresh
fruit-there must be some fresh fruit somewhere."
Queen looked in the window. There was a display of fine peaches.
"Here," she suggested, but Mrs. Benson glanced at the name on the sign
above the store.
"No," Mrs. Benson said. "Not here. They are Semitic."
She walked on. Queen glanced back at the sign, but the name painted on
it meant nothing to her.
"What's Semitic?" she asked Mrs. Benson.
"Jews," Mrs. Benson said. "Semites. We do not give them our business. I'm
sure there's somewhere else."
They walked on, and came closer to the shouting and cheering. Queen could
see a large group of men gathered, having a street meeting. Mrs. Benson
found a store that suited her, and made her purchases. There was no
respite from the heat, and inside the store was hotter than outside.
Shopping done, Mrs. Benson came out with Queen to check her list. Abner
had wakened, and Queen picked him up and rocked him while she waited for
Mrs. Benson. As she did so, she watched the men at the meeting, and
wondered what it was all about. A black man had climbed onto a box, and
was making a speech to the strikers.
692 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
Sheriffs stood watching, guns ready. White workingmen jeered the speaker.
"You all know our cause," the speaker told the strikers. "Decent pay fo' a
&nbs
The strikers cheered.
"Cash money, instead of checks that can only be redeemed at plantation
stores," the speaker shouted, and the strikers cheered again.
Mrs. Benson glanced at the speaker, and then went back to ticking things
off on her list.
"They're the ones that should be shot," she said absently, to Queen. "The
ringleaders."
But Queen was not listening. She was fascinated by the voice of the
speaker.
"They promised us better things in better times, but those better days
never come," the speaker proclaimed. "And I am overflowing with their
unkept promises."
It was Davis; Queen was sure of it. She could not see his face clearly, but
his voice was as familiar to her as her own. She had found him at last, and
her heart, was beating fast, while her shoulders sagged in relief. She
listened to the words pour out of him, in impassioned oratory.
"I don't care what they say they will do," Davis told his rapt audience. "I
judge them only by what they have done. And until now they have done
nothing. So from now, we take. But we take only what is rightfully ours,
what is rightfully due to us, only what we have been promised."
He was a beautiful and eloquent speaker. All the deep anger and passion
that had churned within him for so many years had finally found its outlet.
Queen's eyes sparkled with pride and pricked with tears. She moved a little
closer, off the sidewalk, onto the road to see him better. She wanted to
run to him, to throw herself into his arms, to tell him how much she loved
him. But she could not do that here, in public. Her business with him was
private.
And there was something else, something more important, to do. She held
Abner up, high in the air, as high as she could, so that he might see the
man and hear his voice.
Mrs. Benson looked up from her list, and was puzzled to see Queen standing
in the road holding her son in the air.
QUEEN 693
"Come along, Queen, don't dawdle," she called, but Queen did not hear
her, or if she did, she did not respond. Mrs. Benson clucked in
irritation, and moved closer to Queen, to fetch her.
Queen had eyes only for Davis and mind for Abner.
"It is now!" Davis cried, and the strikers cheered him louder than ever.
Oblivious to everything but her boy and his father, Queen cried out to
Abner. "Look, boy, it's yo' pappy!"
Abner was not the only one who heard this news. Mrs. Benson heard it too,
and smiled a small astonished smile of curious excitement. And the look
in her eyes was triumphant.
81
Oueen wanted to stay, to try to make some contact with Davis, but the
cheering strikers led him away, and Mrs. Benson was anxious to be gone.
As they walked back to the hotel, Mrs. Benson chatted happily with Queen,
and did not discuss what they had seen, or anything about the strike. As
they were about to go into the hotel, she casually asked if Queen knew the
man who had been speaking. Queen wasn't quite sure what to say. She
recognized that her actions with Abner must have been puzzling to Mrs.
Benson, and admitted that she thought she had met the man once, a long
time ago, but was mistaken. Mrs. Benson seemed satisfied, and they went
into the hotel.
Queen's nerves were jangling, with anticipation because she was so close
to Davis, and dread that he might not want to see her again. She tried
to work out her feelings toward him, but she was too excited to be
rational. She loved him stillshe was sure of that-loved him even more
perhaps, for his speech had inspired her, and she was so proud of him it
made her heart sing. She could not imagine what he would think of her,
or of Abner, and she fretted that he might resent the boy.
694 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
She felt a spasm of anger then. Even if Davis did not want to accept
parentage, Abner was the reason he had left Huntsville and traveled on the
road to his true vocation, so he should be grateful for that, at least. Then
she remembered the courtesy and kindness that Davis had always shown her,