Buck lives deep in the swamp, off the main highway
that leads into New Orleans, at the end of a
long, ten–mile dead–end dirt road.
At the end of the dirt road there is a huge trash pile
where some white folks dump their garbage. Buck calls the
trash pile his treasure box, because white kids leave things
there that Buck can use – beer, tobacco, gum, candy, sometimes
even some hooch. Some white kids also go there to
make out.
Buck checks his treasure box every day, and once a week
he hooks up his old mule – he calls him One Eye Tom – to
a wagon. Together they ride into town, carrying fresh fish,
coons, squirrels, and loggerhead turtles, hoping to make a
few bucks by selling his catch to the locals.
Buck lives in a large one–room shack that is left over
from the slavery days. Buck has a wood–burning stove and
a tin roof, but no electricity. Buck has a wife whose name is
Sue, and a kerosene lantern for lighting. Buck and his wife
drink well water.
Together they raise a little boy. They call him Black Boy.
A mangy cow which they call Betty, and a hound dog called
Old Lincoln make up the rest of Buck and Sue’s household.
Buck’s shack is fifty yards from his treasure box. A further
twenty–five yards from the treasure box is Buck’s favorite
fishing hole.
It’s a sunny evening; the sun is slowly going down. Buck,
Black Boy, and Old Lincoln are taking it easy, catching catfish.
Buck is chewing some Red Man tobacco.
He spits and says, “Black Boy, I guess you and me and
Old Lincoln are gonna do some hunting, yes sir.” Just then
Buck sees a red pickup truck that is pulling up by his treasure
box.
As always, he makes sure that they aren’t seen or heard
when someone is at his treasure box. That’s because some
white folks come there to drink beer and do some target
practice with their guns. They always taunt Buck, shouting,
“You niggers better stay back if you know what’s good
for you.” Buck never checks his treasure box until they are
long gone.
The red pickup starts up and leaves. Buck says, “Black
Boy, that didn’t take long. They might have forgotten the
beer they laugh.”
Old Lincoln took off and a few minutes later started to
bark. Buck laughs and slaps Black Boy on the shoulder,
saying, “You see, Black Boy, all I got to say is hunting – Old
Lincoln know what to do. I be back.” Buck picks up
his shot gun, shouting, “Hold him Lincoln, I’m coming.”
Buck walks to the sound of Old Lincoln barking by his
treasure box. He looks up at the trees but sees no coon.
Buck looks the other way and sees Old Lincoln staring at
a big rolled–up newspaper. Buck stops and says, “Lincoln,
that’s no coon. That newspaper is moving.” He thinks
“What the…” grabs his gun by the barrel and moves some
of the newspaper. Buck’s eyes get big as half dollars and he
says, “Old Lincoln, what have you found? A white baby.”
Buck quickly picks up the baby, looking down the road to
make sure no one is coming. “Come on, Lincoln, let’s go
home.”
Black Boy looks up and sees Buck and Old Lincoln coming
along the path walking slowly, holding a big ball of
newspaper, carrying it as if he had two arms full of eggs, all
the while looking at the newspaper. Black Boy asks, “Buck,
what you got?” Buck doesn’t answer and keeps looking at
the newspaper. Black Boy gets up, walks over to Buck, looks
at the newspaper and sees the baby.
Black Boy says, “Buck got a white baby” and asks “What
are you going to do with it?” Buck answers, “I don’t know.”
Then Black Boy says, “I know. Leave that white Devil here
for the gators.”
Buck doesn’t like that. “Black Boy, I can’t do that.”
Why not? thinks Black Boy and says, “The pain from
them white folks whip on your back doesn’t hurt you no more.
It wasn’t long ago that you sent your son, Roy,
a nigger like me, into town to get supplies with Old Tom.
When they didn’t come back we walked to town and found
Roy swinging in a tree. Them white folks had hanged him
and gouged out one of Old Tom’s eyes. When you tried to
cut him down, them white folks tied you to a tree so you
could see Roy swinging must you. They didn’t let me cut Roy
down until sun–up and untie you.”
Buck says to Black Boy, “I know we are niggers, but this is
a baby, it don’t know hate. Sue will know what to do, Black
Boy. Get the fish and my shotgun and let’s go home.”
Walking fast, ahead of Buck, Black Boy keeps saying,
“Buck got a white baby.”
Sue is sitting on the porch, soaking her feet in a number
3 iron tub, chewing some of Buck’s Red Man tobacco.
When she sees Black Boy coming, she spits and says,
“Slow down, Black Boy. You got to skin those catfish before
you can eat them. I haven’ got the grease yet.” But when
she sees Black Boy’s face she asks “Where is my Buck? Oh
Lord, don’t tell me them white folks got my Buck again.”
“No, momma Sue. Buck got a white baby.” Sue sees
Buck, runs toward him and says, “Give me that child and
ya’ll get in the house.”
Sue lays the baby down on the bed and takes it out of
the newspaper. The baby starts to cry and Black Boy says,
“That baby is the Devil.”
Sue looks up at Black Boy and says “Black Boy, sometimes
you can be as mean as an old grizzly bear. It wasn’t
long ago that Buck and Old Lincoln found you and your
momma wandering in the swamp with fever. Your momma
died and we raised you. So I don’t want to hear that foolish
talk from you.”
Black Boy replies, “Yes ma’am, momma Sug.”
Sue shrugs and tells Black Boy to go get some fresh milk
from Betty, the cow. Buck puts some water to boil, puts the
coke bottle in it. He also cuts the small finger off a rubber
glove, and puts the finger in the water with the bottle. He
also asks Black Boy to get some cotton flour sack.
He sews the sack to make something for the white baby
to wear. She is so little that she can only be a few weeks
old. The baby is crying because she is hungry. Sue is upset
because she already likes the baby. She spends half the
night sewing tiny baby clothes. She knows that sack cloth
is rough but it’s better than nothing.
Everyone is already sound asleep, so Sue walks out of
the cabin and looks up at the sky, holding her arms up,
as if in a prayer. “Oh Lord, why us, why now? Before long
you will be calling for me and old Buck to Heaven and I won’t be able to.
She needs so much more than we can give, but we’ll do our best.
Oh Lord, you know that we are niggers.”
Buck walks out, sees Sue, holds her in his arms and says
“Woman, we now have a little girl. Did you leave her
alone with Black Boy?”
They both hurry back into the cabin and find Black Boy
sitting on the floor, holding the little girl in his arms.
She had been crying.” Buck and Sue look at him, smiling and laughing.
“Momma, Sugg do you want her no?”
“Black Boy, you are doing just fine.” Black Boy lets the
little girl sleep in his bed, and he sleeps on the floor. When
he wakes up in the morning, Black Boy smiles and calls
the baby Flower. Buck and Sue smile, too, and already feel
attached to the baby.
Buck and Old Lincoln go outside to check the treasure
box and see the red pickup again. Buck gets closer to the
truck and hears a young woman crying, saying “Where is
my baby girl? I can’t see her. Oh Lord, I’m sorry.”
She looks into the trash pile, still can’t find the baby and
gets into the truck, sobbing. Buck walks up to the truck and
says “Come in. We found your little girl. She was wrapped
in an old newspaper, right here in the trash dump. We
should give her back to you.”
Buck and the woman walk into the cabin and find Sue
holding Flower in her arms. She looks up and asks Buck
where he had been. He says, “Back at my treasure box where
I found this woman crying.” He looks at the young woman
and says, “Don’t worry. Your baby girl is right here.”
Sue and Black Boy are sad, knowing that they would miss
little Flower. The cabin would feel empty without her.
Looking out through the door, Buck sees that the pickup
is parked really close by, too close for comfort. Knowing
that the man in the truck might try to come in, but not
knowing what he would do if he found them with the baby,
Buck crawls out through the back window, clutching Flower
in his arms. He puts her down at the back of the house
and runs into the sugar cane field to find out who is standing
by the door.
Right then, he sees that the young woman is standing at
the back of the cabin, looking at Flower. She picks her up,
hugging and kissing her. She looks at the sugar cane field
and sees Buck standing there. Buck ignores her and walks
back into the house.
There he sees Sue and Black Boy looking forlorn, sobbing.
Sue hugs him and tells him that he is a good man.
Buck says that he’ll miss baby Flower. “We’ll all miss her,”
says Sue.
The next day Buck, Black Boy and Old Lincoln are
feeling down, missing little Flower. They walk up to the
treasure box. There they find a 25–pound bag of rice, a
25–pound bag of coffee and a 25–pound bag of corn flour.
There is also a letter on top of the bags.
He is wondering who left all those things. Perhaps the
folks from the pickup did, but Buck cannot read or write.
He nevertheless opens the envelope and finds a 50 dollar
bill in it. Sue reads the letter. It says “I don’t know who
you are but I do know that you are colored folks. Her name
is Dasie. I am so grateful that you took such good care of
my little baby girl.”
Ivory Wilson has written dozens of short stories. You
can find him selling Street Sense at the corner of 7th
and E streets, NW.
