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HISTORY
SALLY'S PRE-0171A_CH
)ate of .irst
::lame of l'erson Interviewed
Flo bitious lame
.'..3treet Address
siaLce
Occupation
Name of ;:riter
January 5, 1939
Estelle fillias
Eally Jones
1706 'fholsoii Etrcet
Sol.lth Carolina
ferrer Lea
of deviser tate Office
"Liss iolly, you. 'member dab boy I told 'bout dot was so nice
to me durin' de Fair? -jell, on my way home yesterday, I met hir, up to
de fillin' station. `:aid he was on his way down here to see me.
mis
nLmo is Joe. I didn't Lnow him at he was so dressed ur. I was
fixin' to pass him by, when he reach out his hand and say, 'It's me,
is is Joe.'
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"He's a sight in dis world. He tcompanied me on home, and we set
and talked a long time. He told me all 'bout his old auntie. You know
he been livint wdd her ever since he was five year old. Joe say she done
a sight of wranglin' when he mention comin' back to Columbia. Say he shot
had to work his head and lead up to die town easy -like. Aunt Lizzie
think his trip to de State Fair ruint him. She say she never was one for
turnin' chillun loose in de city. She holds de country is de place for
chillun. Say all dey ever gets out ot de city is high falutin' airs and
notions.
"So Joe he jest humor and wait on her and try to keep her pleased
'til he felt safe to tell her his plans.
"He weeded a patch o' ground for her and got taters and onions and
de like planted. Ever time she'd tell him to grab de hoe and sing, he
would shot do it. He say he got so in de habit o' singin"til he most
sing in his sleep:
lothint to live for
Jest one time to die;
does de work
Wnite folks Eits de pie.
spare me, dear -ord,
For some o' dat dessert;
Den I don't give a d
hf I do gib hurt.
"He say Aunt Lizzie brag on his choppint and singint so, he figgered
de time was 'bout right to tell her his aims. So late de other evenint
she told him to run down de road and git some tbacco, and when he come back
dey would eat. He say she 'pear like she wuz in right good spirits; so,
after de%, et, he tell her he's got a lit6le confidence he wants to tell her.
"!hen he told her dat, she got the notion he had done bin tuk un.
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"He laugh, and say, 'No, ma'am, it ain't nothin' like dat. Jes' a
plan I been aimin' to tell you ever since I come from Columbia.' Aunt
Lizzie say: 'Now here you go talkin"bout dat place agin. For de good
Lord's sake, tell me what's down dere you so crazy 'bout. Ain't we got
de same things 'round here or 'bouts? That is it, Son? I'm tired o'
you settin' dere beatin"bout de bush.'
"Den he told her 'bout meetin' me down here at de Fair, and he jes'
couldn't get no res' for studyin"bout me. 'iold her I was smart and had
a job cookin' 2 and he like my sparklin' eyes and straight black hair,
'cause it shine so pretty. he told me, when he saw me yesterday, to come
stan' up side him, 'cause he'd told Aunt Lizzie I jes' core under his arm,
and he want to see wuz he tellin' de truth. He carries on a sight o'
foolishness.
"Aunt Lizzie told him ef he couldn't get no res', and didn't aim to
give her none, to step down to Sudie's and see would she stay wid her while
he's gone. He say when he walked through de field Sa'day, carryin' his old
worn-out suitcase, he had a regslar lump in his throat. he felt like he
wuz gonna choke when he looked back and waved at Aunt Lizzie and Sudie.
They wuz standin' in de door of de little shack, and watched hin out o'
sight. He say dey look so low in spirits he holler back and say:
'Nothin' to live for
Jus' one time to die.'
"'Bout twenty minutes after he got to de big road, a man come along
on a truck and rode him all de way to town. Joe say people shot is in a
hurry to git where dey's goin' in dis town. he first thought dey wuz
another i.air down here.
"he say he been thinkin' 'bout me ever since de las' time he see me.
he starts workin' at de fillin' station Monday. Ir. Jones, de operator,
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say he'll pay him five dollars a week and let him sleep on a cot joinin'
de station.
"That I wants to tell you, Joe wants me to marry him after he's
been there long enough to save a little money. He say it'll be nice for
us to take a little honeymoon. Least long as de money las'. He say he
ain't never see anybody he'd ruther take for his lawful wife. I bilieves
I do love him, iss Polly. Course he do carry on a heap o' foolishness,
but I can tell he's a good boy. I thinks he'll Be good to me.
say when de preacher marries us, he reckon he'll think we's de
long and de short. Joe, he's over six feet high. But I likes a tall man.
"I told him it make me mighty proud what he say 'bout me. Bat I'd
ask you 'bout it, 'cause you wuz always good to 'vise me. I told him I
spect you'd like to see him so's to pass judgment. .uen if you likes his
ways, we plan to marry three weeks from die comin' Sa'day."
After a honeymoon of four days, Sally showed up an animated and
happy bride.
"Liss Polly, dare wan't but one thing to upset our pleasure. When
Joe come as far as de fillin' station wid me die mornin', hr. Jones say
he cone got somebody else on de job. He say Joe had business to let him
know his plans. Course, dis worry Joe powiful bad. So he out scratchin'
for a job now. I tell him jes' work his head and do de bee' he can 'til
his luck hit him. He's a expert crap shooter, but he tell me a fellow
can't win lee' he can rattle a little change in his pocket. Sa I let him
have fifty cents.
"he say he gonna keep huntin' til he find work, he's proud, ef he
is poor. And he don't want me workin' and him doin' nothin'. He say ef
it take all de shoe leather off both his foots, he's gonna walk and coax
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'em to give him work 'til he gits it.
"Iwan't much later'n dat when Joe come in de kitchen and say, 'Sally,
I hear heap o' talk 'bout some work de Government's puttins out. Dey
calls it O.W.A. Whatever dat is. Dey gonna plant eighty-five acres near
de eterans' hospital in cabbages, beans, taters, onions, squash, cu-
cumbers en 'bout everthing you ever hear tell of. They calls that a pro-
ject. Den dey aims to give all dis stuff to de poor folks, black and
white, what can't buy rashions.'
"Joe say he been down to .,:eo de foreman, and dat de foreman seem to
like him when he told him he could plow en everthing. he told Joe to cone
back tomorrow, dat he 'blieve he can 'sign him on dat relief work:. Joe
told him ef he just 'sign him, he'd sho' give him more relief dan he ever
hope to git. he laugh en say he de one givin' de relief, dat Joe wan't.
"And, Liss Polly, Joe got dat relief job. fie she' was proud. Dey
pay him two dollars and forty cent a day, five and a half days a week. ije
foreman say it 'pear like he got more sense dan heap uv 'en. And bein's
he's such a fine plowhand, dey pays hil more. De mule he plows is name
Late, he say his de only language dot pule can understand. He keep 'em
all laughin' wid his mule talk en singin'. He res' his elbows on his plow
handle, and sing:
See dat peckerwood
Settin' on de rail
Learnin' how to figger
All fer de white man
Nothin' fer de nigger.
Den dey all laughs en jokes, en works harder dan ever.
"Liss Polly, Joe say when dey pays off on de project, he'll give me
de money to go see Lattie. She de only sister I got. I got a letter from
her. The comm' down here -i:uesday week, and she want me to go back wid her
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for a few days. Ef you can spare me, I could come or back Sunday."
.6ut on the night before Sally was to return, I heard a faint knock
on my door. A thin, scantily clad little Negro girl was admitted. It
was Sue, Sally's only child, whose advent into the world was a matter
that concerned no one but her mother.
"Lass Folly, Pa got shot. La say please let her come over here and
spend de night. She say she'll sleep on de floor o' jes' anywhere. She
jes' grieve and holler so. She say she can't stay in dat house by herself
tonight."
When Sally arrived, she was indeed an object of pity. Tears were
streaming down her cheeks, and neither word nor deed seemed to comfort
her.
"Miss Folly, I can't stay dere. I can't: I can't! I'll die ef I
stay in dat house tonight. I hates it."
In her misery and grief, she beat on her head and breast, calling re-
peatedly on the Lord. Then, in a fit of utter exhaustion, she sank to the
floor and related the following:
"Miss Folly, me and Ma.ttie had heap o' pleasure visitin"round
'mongst de neighbors. We went out to meetin' one night, and I was jest
natlually enjoyin' my visit. But dis mornin' I woke up wid a curious kind
ol feelin'. I told Mattie I better git on back. I jes' couldn't get shed
o' dat feelin' what kept tellirl me to cone or back home. That you 's -pose
cause dat, Liss Polly?
"Lathe, she tell we to git dem crazy notions out ol my head. Said
I was jest magininl and hearinl things. Say I come to stay 'til Sunday,
and to make myself satisfied.
"But dare wan't no way in de world I could get shed o' dat feelin'
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to come home. Lattie wuz plumb outdone wid me when I lef'. When I reach
home, Ooe wuz settin' in a chair by de fire. He say: 'how come you come
back': Thought you say you aim to stay till Sunday?'
"Then I told him how come I come home, he most killed hisse'f
laughinl, and said: 'We got paid off on de project today. You bull' up a
fire in de cook stove, end I'll run down to de store and git us a chicken
fer supper.'
"I pulled off my good clothes and soon had a fire 'groin' and de pot
boilins. Den I set down to wait for him and de chicken. Seven o'clock
cone and went. When eight o'clock struck, I begin to git uneasy. I
thought 'bout de sign what wuz give me up to Lattie's house. You know
Joe's little dog name -1:)x? Dat dog was layin' dere by de fire sound
asleep. After while, he tuk to shakin' same as he had a chill. Den he
start growline, and keep growlin' a little louder. Den he jump up and
run up to re and bark and bark, jes' like he want to tell me sumpir'.
"All of a sudden I hear somebody call me. I stood up and saw de
shadow of a man flyin' up de alley to my house. He say: 'Joe's shot.
Come quick, and I'll take you to him.'
"Liss Folly, seem like everlthing jes' went black. I run in a daze
to where he was at, wid icox right behin' me. He was layin' dere yid de
street light shinin' on him. I dropped down by his side and put my hand
on his heart. But de life had done gone out. I call and call him, but
he never did answer. In his hand he was holdin' de parcel wid de
chicken in it.
"De cruelest policeman come up and grab me by de shoulder and say:
'Don't you know dead people can't talk. All o' you git out o' de way and
go on 'bout your business.' Den he give poor little Fox a kick, en say,
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'EX somebody don't git die dog out de way, he's gonna git shot, too.'
"Look like dey didn't let Joe git cold good 'fo he was shoved in a
ambulance and took to de -luneral Home.
"Ef it jes' hadn't been for dat drunken brawl in dat roomin' house,
Joe never would o' been kilt. Two mans got to wranglin' over de same
woman. toy Jones grab a pistol, and de other man run out de house. Den
Roy, he shoot through de window and hit my Joe.
"Oh, Jesus, I don't know what I'm gonna do. Joe didn't have no in-
shoance. 1 don't know how we gonna bury him. Dot undertaker say when
people don't have money for de coffin en everthing, dey jes' takes 'em
out and burns 'em.
The next morning the foreman of the project came in and said:
'Sally, I've just come from the Welfare Board. They will contribute fif-
teen dollars. The men on the project are making a donation, and, with
what you have, we can get Joe buried all right.'
"Oh, Jesus, I sho' is grateful. Now, Miss Polly, of you jes' let
me stay here 'til dey buries him) and jes' go long wid me, de Lord will
sho' bless you.
"I got a right pretty black dress and veil one o' de ladies in de
church give me."
Tuesday morning, after the project workers and others had gathered
for the funeral, a small figure draped in black entered. She was a sym-
bol of perfect composure. But as the first notes of "Nearer My God to
Mee" were heard and the preacher began his chant and eulogy of the de-
ceased, she threw all restraint to the winds.
"Oh, Lordy, there he. Oh! Lordy, I see's him. There he is. Oh:
Jesus, how come you take my Joe? There he, Oh! Lordy."
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Annie, supporting her and stroking her shou7der was heard to say:
'Sally, brace up, child, don't carry on so. You'll make yourself down-
right sick. Brace yourself. here come de foreman. Uan't nobody hear
what de preacher sayint. And I know he gonna talk pretty 'bout Joe.
You knows you want to hear de singin' and prayin."Sides they's got
to git through wid dis buryine. Two days been los"count o' that bed
o' rock dem gravediggers struck. And the mens has to git back to de
project. Now you do as Annie say, and brace yourse'f.'
About eight o'clock Joe started on his last earthly journey. The
cold was intense; the ground frozen. finally, eight white pallbearers
lowered his last renains into a grave dug in Potter's Field.
I glanced out of my window, to see a transformed Sally approach
the house. She was leaning on the arm of a sympathetic Negro man.
"Liss Polly, dat 'bout the finest car I over see, what I went de
buryin' in. at undertaker man so nice. fie hold my hand and say he
pow'ful sorry 'bout my trouble. I jest couldn't he'p but laugh when he
say I sho' make a good lookin' widow."
About a week after the funeral, Sally began to corplain of a misery
in her head, and said: "Liss Polly, seem lak I can't do much good
stayin' here. I can't sleep nights, end I ain't able to git my mind set
on anything. 'Bout de bes' thing for me and Sue to do is to go to
i.attie's. I'm gonna git me a nerve tonic, and see can't I git to feelin'
right. Den I'll be back. I never will forgit all you done for me."
four years later I walked in Silver's Lime Store, and there stood
Sally. On seeing me, she manifested surprise and embarassment, as she
released the am r of a tall, light-colored Negro. They were standing at
the jewelry counter. Sally was trying on first one ring, then another.
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She no longer wore her look of distress and widow's mourning. Instead,
she was decked out in one of the stylish pancake -shaped hats, which
reposed on her left ear, a red dress and coat, and black suede pumps.
Gold earrings and beads completed her costume. The face powder which
had been applied a little too generously gave her an ashy look as she
greeted me.
"Oh! Miss Polly, I'm shoe glad to see you. I sho' have talked
and thought 'bout all of you. his my cousin from up de country where
Lathe lives, lie come to see de Christmas in Columbia." Both dis-
played large, very white teeth is a broad grin exchanged between them.
"Annie give me your message. Yestm, she told me, and I'm sho'
comin' to see you durin' de Christmas. How's all your girls? Well,
you look for me, 'cause I'm sho' comm'. I wants to hear all 'bout
you all."
Three weeks later I heard a faint knock on my door. Sally came
in timidly and handed me one of her bright red geraniums that she grew
in a tomato can.
Always eager to help, she performed first one little odd job, then
another. 1,'inally she sat down, and over a cup of hot coffee in the
kitchen, her mood became reminiscent.
"Iiiss Folly, you know it's 'zactly four years gone dis month since
I los' Joe. I sho' miss him. I wish de good Lord could o' spared him,
but He know best. You know dat boy I was in company wid in de dime
store? he's a good boy, and we been keepin' company for some time.
Seems like I got so lonely stayin' by myself all de time. 7e went 'round
to de magistrate's office and got married dat same afternoon. his name is
Aufus Allen. he's got steady work at a fillihg station. Lakes six dollars
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a week. ne also picks up a little change in tips, too. I'm maid at a
boardin' house on Lady Street. Jae work ain't so confining, aid I get
four dollars a week. So if Rufus jes' keep on like he's doin' now,
I know we will get along all right. I know he's been true to me so far.
But you see we jes' been married a month."
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