The Price of a Child- No Freedom For Me

Camille Franchine
January 29, 2009
English 3
Mr. Fiorini
The Price of a Child- No Freedom For Me
“Damn it Ginnie!”
He’d neva yell’d at me befoe. Not like dis.
“I trusted you! I was kind to you! I loved you!”
To me this was a good thing and a bad thing. I was glad that Etta and Mattie had gained their freedom but I was not so lucky. I’m sure they can survive on they own and I’m happy to be with my Bennie boy, I jest wish I coulda gotten freedom from my master Pryor.
“And my own son, how could he leave me. I was good to him. I left him a piece of my land so he could have something when I die… but he ran away from his own father.” He went on.
I ain’t believe everythin’ he say. He ain’t even claim Mattie as his son ‘til now. I was scared now though, I ain’t eva seen him mad like dis befoe. I ain’t know what to do or what to say.
Then he rasied his hand hugh up to his head and quickly brought it down onto my buttocks. He ain’t neva hit me befoe either. I started to cry afta holdin’ it back eva since I had to leave my children.
“I can’t get rid of you, I love you too much. I don’t want to get rid of my only other son but by selling him I think that will punish you enough for trying to betray me. I’ll just have to see what the price of a child his age is.”
“Please! Please sir! Don’t do that to me! I already loss two of ma children I cant bare to lose the third! Ill do anything!” I had to speak up.

“How could I do that to you?! How could I do that to you?! How could you betray me and try to run away from me?! I thought we had something. I really felt something between us…”
Now he tryna make me feel guilty. He say he loves me buh he has a bad way of showin’ it. Cooper neva treated me like this. He neva made me wanna leave him.”
“You sayin’ you love me massa Pryor?”
“Yes Ginnie, I love you.”
“Wit all do respect massa, buh if you love me you coulda showed it betta, like hoe Cooper did.”
“Cooper… damn nigger hasn’t seen you in years, hasn’t come back you or nothin’. Yet you still love him. Why Ginnie? Why can’t you love me? I treated you better then I treated any of my slaves”
“’Cause massa, I will always be the slave and you will always be the massa. You own me. You own my children, your children.”
“Aww Ginnie is that what this is about? Oh baby, I’ll free you; just promise me you will stay with me. I’ll get our kids back, I’ll do anything, just love me Ginnie.”
“Massa I can’t do that. There is no relationship here. Treat me like lover stead of a sex slave and maybe I could but you will never be as good as Cooper. He wasn’t able to save me but you are. You coulda been betta to me. I coulda loved you too. Buh I think you a sick man and I ain’t eva gon love you, sir.”
He looked at me with sincere eyes, like he neva had befoe. For a seond I felt kinda bad for ‘im, den I came to ma senses.
He left me in the wagon and went into his house. I stayed there the whole night, deciding on if I should run or stay. I was ‘fraid he’d kill me if he caught me again, or kill Bennie if he didn’t. So I stayed. It was one of the longest nights I had in a while.

I wrote an alternate to the story. I made it as if Ginnie was not able to escape and Etta and Mattie were. I changed the meaning of the title to that as if Pryor wanted to sell Bennie for the best price he could get.
A little something extra:
Getting raped by my master-dignity
Ticket to freedom-my son
Ability to read and write-pretending not to hate my master
Getting my child back and being a part of his life-priceless