The Diary of Madame Decadeaux

The first three chapters.

CHAPTER 1

 

 

MY NAME IS MADAME MARIE-CLAIRE DECADEAUX but my birth name is Nanoon Kili. I was born in Swatah Village on the beautiful coast of Africa. I had two sisters, Safoo and Wati Kili, of which I was the eldest. My father was Dawati Kili, a respected and beloved chief of my village. Oh how I miss them. My mother Cala Kili was the most generous person I knew. I can still recall memories of how she would sing as we gathered fruits and vegetables for the entire village, memories I will never forget. However, my serene and blissful life would not last.

It was a sunny day, a day no different from the rest, until my sisters and I were ripped from my mother's arms after watching the vicious men from the Trulo tribe kill our father. Afterward, we were sold for weapons to white men, whom at that time looked very strange to me since I had never seen one. We were then told to walk a long distance to a place where we were all separated and forced to enter a great boat. That was one of the most' if not the most' heart-wrenching event in my life.

After a long journey at sea, the boat came to a halt. Soon white men told all of the Africans' those who survived the journey, that is' to go up deck. When I got up deck, I could not believe my eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief. With white sandy beaches, blue-as-sky waters and much greenery, I thought I was home. I quickly realized this was not so. Because we were soiled with excrement and vomit, we were sprayed down with water and placed on a platform. The whites examined my teeth, legs, back and eyes. I felt scared and confused. Afterward, they would yell out words that I could not understand. Later I would learn this was the way the whites would purchase us. I was sold along with five others to a tall white man with green eyes and dark brown hair named Gabriel-Lucien Decadeaux. He took us to his plantation where there were many small cabins situated in front of his modestly-size white house. I was fourteen years of age.

 

CHAPTER 2

 

 

WHILE ON THE PLANTATION, I met many other slaves who became my friends. My dearest friend though was Montzell. She was older than me, approximately twenty-five years of age. I enjoyed her companionship very much since she reminded me of my mother. She taught me many things, such as the language of the whites, how to cultivate sugar canes and how to avoid Monsieur Baptiste's wrath, who was Monsieur Decadeaux's overseer. She had been on the plantation for some five years since being sold to Monsieur Decadeaux. She loved and protected me like a daughter. After being on the plantation for about three months, Monsieur Decadeaux wanted me to tend to house chores. I was very happy, since it meant not being in the scourging hot sun.

Monsieur Decadeaux treated me kindly and routinely gave me extra food to eat. I thought to myself, this must be how indoor slaves lived. He soon told me to move into a room in the servants' quarters located outside near the rear end of his house. I was elated to find that the rooms were private with their own cots and a small closet for the servants' garments. However, it was not long until I learned of his true intentions.

One night after my fifteenth birthday, Monsieur Decadeaux entered my room. I felt very uneasy since he had never entered the servants’ quarters. I quickly jumped to my feet and with my head bowed in submission I asked:

"How can I help you Monsieur Decadeaux?"

"Do you really want to know how you can help me Marie-Claire?" he replied.

"Oui," I submissively answered.

He then raised his hand and placed it on my shoulder, causing me to tremble with fear.

"You have such beautiful brown skin," he muttered as his hand traveled down my arm. “And your eyes are so beautiful.”

“Merci Monsieur,” I responded uneasily. I took a step back from him as he continued to move gradually toward me.

That night I lost all respect for him and developed a deep hatred only death could break. The following day I told Montzell about the events of that horrible night. She tried to console me as she always did but to no avail.

One day as I attended to my chores, I grew violently ill. I vomited every last content of food I had in my stomach. The other house servants brought me to my room. Adelene-Joelle, who also worked in Monsieur Decadeaux's house, ran to get Montzell who was working in the fields. Montzell and Searlus, who was thirty-three years of age and the oldest female slave on the plantation, both sprang into the room as if their lives depended on it.

"Marie-Claire, what's wrong?" Montzell asked frantically.

Searlus touched my forehead and pressed down on my belly before uttering two words that caused a painful sob to escape my lips.

"Li ansent."

I began to weep bitterly. I did not want to bring a child into this miserable life.

Meanwhile, Monsieur Decadeaux was away at France attending to business matters. When he finally returned I was six months pregnant. As I polished the silverwares in the salle à manger, I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned to see him standing there staring at me with a smile. His face soon became expressionless upon seeing that I was pregnant. He then simply turned away, stepped out of the room and disappeared from sight. I felt great shame and embarrassment as I stood there with tears falling down my face. That night I was awakened by the opening of the door to my room. Immediately I knew who it was but pretended to be asleep. Monsieur Decadeaux then sat down next to me.

"Marie-Claire, wake up," he whispered.

I rolled over and pretended to be drowsy.

"What is this I see, a belly?" he asked, as I kept quiet. "You did not let any of these monkeys around here touch you, non?"

"Non, Monsieur Decadeaux!" I responded in disbelief.

The nerve he had to ask me such a question. I did not think I could have hated him more then I already did. That night continued as usual.

 

CHAPTER 3

 

 

I GAVE BIRTH to my first child on January 2, 1726. She was a beautiful baby, born with a head full of hair. I never thought I could love another person so deeply again after being ripped away from my family. Montzell and Searlus helped me deliver her. Montzell slapped her on the bottom to induce crying before wrapping her in a white cloth and placing her in my arms. It was then I made a promise to her to do all that I could to protect her. After hearing her cries, Monsieur Decadeaux burst into the room and slowly moved toward the cot that both the baby and I were lying upon. I had an intense desire to hide her from him, to hide her as far away as possible. Montzell and Searlus instinctively left when Monsieur Decadeaux entered the room. I began to feel frightened as he approached us. He asked me how I was doing, to which I answered that I was fine. He then stretched his arms out for her, and I obliged with great hesitation. She immediately began to cry.

"Oh it is fine my beautiful princess, I'm your father," he said as he cradled her in his arms.

The strangest emotions overtook me as I observed him holding her. I no longer wanted to shield her from him.

"I will call you Marie-Monique Decadeaux," he whispered as he gazed admirably at her.

Monsieur Decadeaux granted Marie-Monique freedom that day, since under the Code Noir (the laws, which were created by King Louis XIV in 1685, regulated the treatment of slaves and restricted the rights of free people of color) she was considered a slave because she was born to a slave woman.

Monsieur Decadeaux loved Marie-Monique very much. I can recall when he would have his weekly soirees he would have her dress in the finest gowns imported from France. Monsieur Decadeaux was not a conventional French man and did not see the need to confirm to society's standards. He was born in Paris, France in the year 1697, the second child of four siblings. Born into an aristocratic family, he decided to move to the island of Saint Domingue at the age of twenty-two after losing his father the year before. After moving to the island, Monsieur Gillo-Thibault Auguste, a successful planter who became a father figure to Monsieur Decadeaux, taught him the ins and outs of the slave business, planting and the selling of goods. Because Monsieur Decadeaux was a very intelligent man, he was able to master the role of a planter.

On December 5^th, 1728, I gave birth to my second child, Jean-Claude Decadeaux. I was seventeen years old then. He grew up to have medium olive complexion, though a little lighter in appearance than Marie-Monique. Monsieur Decadeaux adored him so, since Jean-Claude was his firstborn son. Searlus was not present to help me deliver the child, since she had died the year before from an illness. After his birth, Monsieur Decadeaux moved me into a room on the lower level of the big house. He then had my room furnished with a bed, a chest, a bassinet for Jean-Claude and a small closet where I placed Marie-Monique’s clothes and my servant garments. I soon developed many enemies among the slaves including Adelene-Joelle, which saddened me very much since I viewed them as my family. By this time Monsieur Decadeaux had purchased 150 more slaves for a total of 500. Though this was a relatively small number compared to other successful slave owners who had upwards of 6,000 slaves, Monsieur Decadeaux was doing very well. He cultivated coffee, rice, sugar cane and cocoa, which he exported to Europe and the newly formed Thirteen Colonies in the Americas.

 

Author's Note

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