Boys Shall Always Be Boys

Evangeline opened her eyes, smiling at the warmth of the night, or at this point, early morning. It couldn't have been later then 2, which was a good, natural hour to be up at. She nudged Luke awake, whispering quietly in his ear in loving words. 

"Réveille-toi, mon amour. il ya une nouvelle journee, ée de beaux jours devant." Wake up, my love. There is a bright, new day ahead.

Luke opened his eyes, kissing her gently. "Merci, Evangeline."

She smiled, knowing he had no idea what she had said. 

"

I love you." he said, and cupped her cheek. "When do you have to get back?"

"

Now. I wasted all night not doing my chores. The menfolk shall have my head if I do not get back."

He frowned. "I suppose I should go back to the farm......feed the horses......milk the cows......."

She nodded and pointed out the door. "Yes. Go on, my sweet farmer boy. Go back to your animal friends."

He stuck his tongue out and stood, sweeping her off her feet. "Oh, my lovely Evangeline." he said, his hands on the small of her back now. It made her feel safe to have him hold her, like no other man could ever make her feel. 

"Oh, I am your farm boy now?" Luke asked.

Evangeline nodded. "Of course. I have no other farm boys."

"No, but you have four masters, my dear, and you must go and return to them now."

Evangeline pouted in response, wanting to do anything but go back into that house. 

She looked towards the house in despair.

"Don't worry. If anything bad happens, you run over to the farm, understand? My master and his wife will take care of you. I promise."

She blinked. Someone would take care of her? That was a miracle in itself. Then again, she had often heard about Luke's master. 

Mr. Collin's, and his wife Mary, were farmers, and ran a plentiful, prosperous farm which held many of the crops for the town marketplace. Evangeline had bought things from the servants of their who worked the booth many times before, and knew that if you needed it, crops could come to you from the Collins' at any time, free of charge. They had a way of knowing who needed help. They were well respected, and though though were elderly, they had the energy of younger adults, and maybe even more. Mr. Collin's worked the farm with the aid of many servants, Luke included, and slaves, but they were treated better then any other of their rank. They were clothed in clean, respectful clothes, for servants and slaves at least, and always were fell fed. They were never beaten unless they tried to run, which only a few had ever done. 

Evangeline nodded. "I'll come if things get bad enough," she told him, but knew deep in her heart it would only be worse if she ran away. She would be beaten even worse, if that was possible, and all 4 of the Crane men would make sure she was punished severely, even if they were at fault. 

Luke kissed her one last time and ran off towards the property line, Evangeline watching him lovingly as he loped over the fence and off onto the farm. She could still feel his kiss as she walked inside, putting her apron on and starting making bread, getting water to wash clothes and do dishes, saying a silent prayer to God that the day would be alright.

She scrubbed every dish in the sink, washed every piece of laundry and went to hang it on the line, and had started on breakfast for the slaves and other servants by 6, sighing in relief as all her morning chores were finished.

She felt a touch on her waist and froze. 

"Where's my breakfast, darlin'?" The voice was drawled like a drunk, and the laugh following came out crackly and creepy. Evangeline didn't even have to turn her head to know it was Joseph. He reached into the on of scrambled eggs she had and took some. She turned her head, looking at him questioningly. 

"Aww, I'm sorry, sugar. I'm just so hungry." he pressed his lips to her neck, and Evangeline fought not to make a sound, her eyelashes fluttering as she squirmed out of his grasp. 

"Now, baby, that ain't fair." he said, pushing her against the wall, grinning like a fool.

"Brother, please. Look at her. You're frightening her." Simon said, coming in and giving his older brother a reprimanding look. 

Joseph let her go, and she scurried off, back to the stove, fixing two plates on bacon, eggs, and toast and setting them down in front of the two boys, who were now sitting at the table. 

"What a lovely, lovely sight you are, Evangeline." Simon said.

Joseph scoffed. "Aw, come on, Si, she couldn't understand a damn word yer sayin' to 'er." 

Oh, if I could show you what I understand. Evangeline thought. 

"I don't know. I think she can understand us well enough. Like.....I don't know.......sex." He hissed the last word in such a way as to make a shiver run down Evangeline's spine. She hated the way she cringed at the word.

"See? She understands." Simon determined.

"What? She started talking or something?" Isaac asked, coming in with a smirk already on his face. His morning must have started out well, for once. He was always unpleasant in the morning. 

"No, no. She just knows what father's going to do tonight." Simon said. 

Evangeline fixed Isaac a plate and he dug in hungrily, looking up at her and chuckling.

"Where is father, anyway?" Simon asked. 

Joseph shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Probably upstairs, writing out invitations to that stupid dinner party he's havin'."

Isaac nodded. "I'll bet. That party's stupid anyway. The men get drunk and go nuts and go off with the help," he glanced at Evangeline, chuckling again. "And the women are snooty and try to set us up with their daughters, and I'm tired of it." 

"No, you're tired of the women pinching your cheeks and callin' you baby." Simon pointed out.

Isaac grimaced. "It's horrifying."

 

"You're the youngest, you dumbass." Joseph countered. 

Evangeline tuned them out as Elijah came down the steps, smirking. "Good morning, boys," he said. He looked Evangeline up and down. "Evangeline."

Evangeline nodded her greeting and turned to get him a plate of breakfast as well, but before she could turn around to put it on the table, Elijah had pushed her up against the wall, none too gently, and held her by the waist. 

"Simon, my boy, didn't you say there was a way to know if a woman is with child?"

Simon nodded and rose from his seat, walking over. "Indeed, father," he nodded at Evangeline. "May I?"

"But of course." Elijah replied.

Isaac came closer and pressed his hand against the area just beneath her breastbone, as though feeling for something, and then he pressed harder, coming down her body down to her stomach. He nodded every now and again, and Evangeline resisted the urge to wince.

He smirked. "She is with child, father. If you press extremely hard, you can feel the difference in a woman's body, such as a new forming fetus." he sighed. "Evangeline, rejoice-you're going to be a mother."

She could have told her master's that herself. She had been feeling ill all morning, and after vomiting last night and eating nothing, she was feeling awfully sick, as well as extremely hungry. 

She eyed the remaining food on the stove. After getting the servants, slaves, and the Crane men their food, there was just enough for her to have a few bites of egg, two thin pieces of bacon, and one triangular half slice of bread. Her mouth watered at the thought of eating something. She hadn't in days now. Her stomach growled, as though it was screaming at her to just get the food already. 

She got a plate, turning to get some, but she found the pan of eggs empty, the bacon gone, and the toast as well. She turned her head, and there was Joseph, one piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth, the toast on his plate and the eggs nowhere to be seen. In the time she had hesitated, he had swooped in to get the last of breakfast, making it unacceptable to make anything more unless any of the boys wanted it. 

"Well, that was a tasty breakfast." Joseph said, smirking at Evangeline's frown.

"Sorry, sugar. You've got to fight to eat." he smacked her behind as he strode out of the room, leaving his plate on the table. 

She picked the plate up, hiding her disappointment fairly well, and Isaac got up, taking his plate towards the sink. She looked away, trusting in the fact that he wouldn't try anything.

She felt a breeze, heard a short chortle, and realized Isaac was staring at her pantaloons beneath her dress.

She went to swat his hand away and found her wrist caught in his hand, a hard glare facing her. He slapped her across the cheek, sending her skin into a fit of pain and tingling sensation. 

"You don't touch me, dollface. You're lucky I am even allowing you in my presence after you stole from us last night." he hissed. "But you know that how lucky you are." his grip tightened, and her lips parted in a silent yelp. 

Simon interjected himself in, kissing her lips forcefully before leaving the kitchen.

Mr. Crane smiled like there was nothing wrong with all of this, shooing Isaac out of the kitchen and staying in his chair as Evangeline cleared up the dishes. 

"Evangeline, I have another job for you." he said, and Evangeline looked at him, blinking. 

"I need you to deliver these invitations, off to the messenger in the square. You know who he is, don't you?"

Evangeline tried to remember, thankful when she did, and nodded. 

"Good, good. Deliver these invitations to him, and then go to the market and pick up some food fit for a party. We are having guests tomorrow night. I need you to polish the silver, get out the fine plates and the champagne glasses and the linen napkins. This house needs to be spotless, and everything spick and span by this time tomorrow morning." he raised an eyebrow, taking in her blank expression. 

Evangeline would have screamed if she could have without blowing her cover. So many chores to do, along with the ones she had to do every day, as well as probably having to patch up a slave after he got beaten, not to mention the chores she would probably get later to add on. 

And then there were the preparations of all the food for tomorrow night's party, none of which she would be allowed to eat. 

She frowned, walked out as quickly as she could, the cream colored envelopes in her hand. 

"Just like the men to waste my time on petty things they could do themselves." she said to herself, as she got off the plantation property. "It's not as if they have much else to do." she sighed as she passed the Collins' farm, waving to Luke as she passed. 

He was toiling away in the fields, looking happy enough to do it, next to numerous other boys, black and white, who looked just as happy. 

She wished she could work there instead of for the Crane's. She'd be treated well, allowed to eat, probably not pregnant, if she had worked there. But instead she had a baby inside her that had no business being there, a million chores to do and not at all enough time to do it all, no women company, 4 men who wanted to beat her and molest her and work her until she couldn't work anymore, but had to, and the inability to do anything about it but listen.

And so was another day in the life of Evangeline Dupalia.

Author's Note

I need more characters!If you'd like to send me a character give me a name,gender,age,occupation,appearance,personality,and a short snippet involving them. If they work for the Crane's, make them boys!
Tell me what you like, what you want to see in future chapters, and I must ask-would you like me to alternate point of view between Evangeline and Luke? As well, if you like this story, share it with everyone you know!!

Reviews

[Demetri J]

See, I'm not dead. Anyway back to business...

Aside from a few grammatical errors and noticeable punctuation mistakes, the chapter is solid and well written, albeit somewhat short. Idk, I just feel as if this was a little lacking in length and maybe story progression, but I'd chalk that up to being an issue of personal taste. However it prevents me from having much to say/critique in that sense. Though I'll say I'd expected a bigger reaction to the discovery of Evangeline's pregnancy. They're just sort of like "Oh god, our slaves having a baby... Whatever. Yo Elijah, did you watch America's Got Talent last night?"

Don't quite remember if I mentioned this before but the dialogue from some of the characters seems kind of unnatural and textbook-ie, might want to fix that up.

So far the story's descended further into a dark and depressing territory. There doesn't seem to be an inkling of hope or positivity so far, which I assume was your intention. You do a good job of capturing the suck-ness of Evangeline's life and seeing the world through her eyes is dismal and menacing as it should be. The only question that arises is what the future holds; I'm guessing she'll eventually run away or something, a prediction I had was that Luke takes her in and the two run away together. I guess we'll just have to keep reading to see.

Just a thought, I think it'd be nice to explore Evangeline's thoughts toward having a child, from what I can tell she's not yet explicitly stated her feelings. Obviously I doubt she wants to have the kid in the midst of the abuse-ridden life she leads, but has she thought of giving it up for adoption? Does she even have faith it won't die inside of her? Maybe it's too early on to get into it, but it's an idea to keep in mind for future story. Also, I'd be a little weary of letting other people contribute too much to your story, after all no one understands a fictional world better than its creator.
See you on the next chapter, peace!

[bookworm0812]

Oh my gosh, I am so glad you aren't dead! I haven't heard from you in a long time! I will definitely think about how Evangeline would react to the baby, because you're right, she hasn't said how she's felt yet, and I think she really should.

[Mattixz]

Character Idea:

Francis Devinshire
23 years old
Woodcutter for the Cranes
He is a light-browned skinned African-American Male, about 5'10, with curly black hair and he is slightly overweight
He is very cheerful and always cracking jokes

Francis watches Evangeline throwing up into a nearby patch of cabbage, he rushes over to her; "Evangeline are you all right suga?" she continues to wretch into the cabbage patch, "Hun you shouldn't be working so hard, you are with child."

[bookworm0812]

Thanks so much! I like Francis very much, and I think he will have a spot in the story, FOR SURE!

[JordanIsaacSmith]

Another very enjoyable chapter! I found the characters to be well developed and the description to be well written. A very good read, I'm enjoying this story! I'll be interested to see where to you take it from here. Alternating between the point of view of the different characters can be extremely effective when done right, so I'm for it.

[bookworm0812]

Thank you very much! I am glad that you are liking the story still, and I thank you for the opinion and thoughts about the point of view switch. I think you might be the only one so far who has actually answered that question for me. Thanks again! I'll try not to disappoint with the chapters to come.

[SquinklaPsyOps]

The character you have developed for the story has a lot of potential, it keeps the reader wondering if she ever going to speak and how it could benefit her to defend herself. I think is a grabber because most women could identify themselves with it, it also makes wonder how is going to benefit her to get to the top as she is becoming stronger and intelligent. I really hope it doesn't have a long term effect on her and she can be happy in her life, she deserves it when she left her family looking for a better life.

[bookworm0812]

Thanks so much! Want to create a friend for her?