She knew she’d made a mistake. She’d grown tired of being in the village around the children. She wanted to go out and make something for herself. She knew it wasn’t safe…not with the price for her head rising by the day. The womenfolk had kept her good and hidden but she’d grown restless. She’d been in this small fugitive community for three months now and she thanked heaven for it. To see people who looked like her… to share her story and hear of theirs. It was sobering…heartbreaking…even reassuring. But…she needed to go out there and find herself. This was the Land of the West they told her. Lots of former slaves had found work here or found gold. Enough to buy their freedom and those of their loved ones. Women could choose what they wanted to do. They had a freedom here that existed no where else as far as she knew. She wanted that for herself. 

    She’d ventured out, making sure she tied her hair with a rag and walked into what she assumed was a town square. It was busier than the field at high noon, squawkers, merchants and people walking to and fro. Swallowing, she nervously walked on the side, away from the whites and came by what appeared to be a store. Walking past the horses tied to their posts, she entered the store, eyes wide at all the foreign things in front of her. She reached out to pick up a jar of food, turning it around curiously. What was it? Putting it back, she furthered her exploration, choosing to head towards the furthest corner of the store. In her looking, she hadn’t been aware of a set of eyes watching her. 

    “You lost?” Her whole entire body froze. 

    “I asked you a question girl.” Turning, she felt sweaty. A white man stood there, eyes like that of a snake, mouth sneering. 

    “N-no suh I ain’t lost…” He drew closer, humored in the way she backed up against the shelf. Taking her chin in his hands, he made her look at him. 

    “Please suh I ain’t-”

    “You that runaway ain’t you?” By now her heart beat up into her ears and her mind ran a thousand minds a minute. 

    “That fugitive from Alabama right?” She knew better than to speak, squeezing her eyes shut as his hot breath came closer to land on her cheek. 

    “Nawl…I think it was Mississippi. Yeah that’s right.” His eyes slipped down her form.

    “They didn’t say you was gonna be nice and pretty. Good build. Young.” She reached behind her to grab hold of one of those jars. He’s gonna kill you. Taking a shuddery breath, she opened her eyes and looked at him. 

    “You gon turn me in?” She asked, gripping the jar behind her to filth. 

    “I should shouldn’t I?” Letting go of her cheek, he grinned. 

    “But I tell you what you a damn pretty one. Tell ya what…I strike a deal with you.” She didn’t move, didn’t even blink as she stared him down. 

    “I won’t turn you in. In return you gotta do a little something for me.” Taking a deep breath, she let go of the jar behind her and clutched her dress behind her. 

    “What’s that?” The man took a finger and slid it across her cheek, making her yank her head away. Chuckling, he grabbed her by the neck, forcing her to look at him. 

    “I’m sure you came out here sniffing for some work. You just got yourself a job at my inn.” Before she could say anything else, he let her go. 

    “I expect my repayment to be more…private what do you say?” He asked reaching down to touch her waist. Not a chance in high he-

    “Yes suh.” 

    “That a girl. Now you get it. Good then.” Backing away, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin can. Sticking a brown lump into his mouth, he waved his hand around. 

    “Get whatever you like now. Don’t matter what it is.” She still hadn’t moved and the confusion on her face humored him. 

    “That’s right you don’t know what the hell you lookin at huh? Well, I’ll get it then.” 

    “Suh…”

    “Grace. Kelly Grace.” How ironic. Swallowing thickly, she followed him as he went throughout the store, picking up items along the way. When they reached the counter, she stood back aways from him, trying to decide how far she’d get if she ran. 

    “Come on Aurora.”

    “Suh?”

    “It’s sir. And that’s your name now.” Silent, she followed him outside and remained quiet as he mounted his horse. 

    “Let’s go before the catchers come this way. I heard they were in town.” He said with a slap to the reigns. Walking behind his horse, she felt the palms of her hands grow moist and looked up at the man in front of her. What the hell had she gotten herself into? Something told her that she’d just made a deal with the devil. 

*** 

    “So how long did you work as a merchant?” 

    “A year.”

    “Was it hard work?” 

    “Very strenuous yes. Donghai had a horse stable and put me in charge of them. When I was done with the tending, we would go into the town square down by the piers and try to sell items we’d acquired in our many travels. They never knew that it was by our hand that they held exotic finds.” 

    “Amazing.” 

    “I began to see what Donghai spoke of…how the men with pale colored skin would lie, cheat and harass. In particular, they seemed to hate us…our people. It never made sense to me why. They were the ones who had recruited our help. Yet they despised the hand that supplied them.” 

*** 

    “Damn coolie bitch!” An uproar brought their attention away from the sale. Ahead, a woman was being beaten, her dress was being ripped apart and the hands of men grabbed her and held her down against the dirt. He felt fury ignite in his chest and prepared to go to help her when Donghai’s hand stopped him. 

    “Mind what is your business Jie.’’ He spoke quietly, with his free hand gathering what trinkets hadn’t been sold and piling them up. 

    “We cannot let her be taken advantage of like this! She’s one of us.” He hissed, yanking his hand back. 

    “That is her price to pay.” Eyebrows knit together. 

    “What price?”

    “For breaking the law of the sea.”

    “I’ve heard of no such thing. That can’t be true.” The screams of the woman drew their gazes back toward her, now being viciously raped, the pale skin of the man on top of her growing red as a fire. He grunted and howled like a raving beast, lifting his hand to slap her face and her breasts. 

    “I will explain soon. Let’s not make trouble.” Donghai continued quietly, gathering what was unsold and placing it in a basket. Angry, his heart shattered as her cries grew louder, one man done only to encourage another. He clenched his teeth and grabbed the pouches and table, quietly slipping away from the scene. 

    When they had made it back to Donghai’s hut, he threw the pouch on the ground. 

    “Explain to me why the hell we didn’t help her?” He demanded, eyes narrowed. 

    “One thing you have yet to learn my friend is that in this land we do not reign supreme.” 

    “That doesn’t answer my question!” He hissed, crossing his arms. 

    “This is the land of the white man. It is his territory and in it he reigns over all.” He began to put away the items, brushing past the angry man. 

    “We are but shit to them. They find us lower than them and yet just a mark above the Negro.” 

    “Negro? What is that?”

    “They are the dark skinned people you see in the town square. Most of them exist in a cruel reality, not having their freedom.”

    “How can one dictate who is able to live as a mortal and who cannot?”

    “That indeed is the question.” Blowing out hot air from his nostrils, he knelt and took hold of a beautiful sea shell that he had plated with silver. 

    “Wan’er’s price to pay is heartbreaking yes. And any one of us wishes to defend her. But we cannot. To interfere with the price is to die.”

    “What was her crime that she must be treated as no more than a whore in daylight?” 

    “She fell in love with a mortal man.”

    “That is a crime?”

    “No. But conceiving a half mortal child is.” He swallowed, watching as Donghai went to start a small fire. 

    “The man was white. And he convinced her that he would take care of her. She became his bride only to face hell. He abused her, told her that she wasn’t worthy of any good thing. She was meant to be his bed slave, created by the God of this country for that reason.” 

    “Nonsense!”

    “And what has happened to the men of this village when we defend what little of our women we have? We find ourselves brutalized in ways not even a dog would be subjected to.”  He clenched his jaw as he watched the man unwrap a packet. From the smell of it fresh fish. 

    “They hang us as if we are but twisted fruits bared by the earth. Mortal or sea dweller. It matters not. They kill us all with a frightening blood thirst.” The sound of the fish being placed in the wok filled the hut. 

    “As you know we cannot die. And so, they take those who don’t die by hanging and throw us into water; with the rationale that we will drown.” 

    “And when they discover that we won’t?”

    “They capture us and cut off our tails. They let us bleed our blood and then that is when our souls are eaten.” The entire story served to chill him to the bone and at that, he let the anger inside escape by breath through his nose one last time. 

    “Wan’er made the last woman we had. She traveled all the way from our homeland just to meet her end. That is the life we’ve been cursed with. It never ceases to end.” Coming to sit next to him, he watched as he turned the fish until it grew nice and golden brown thanks to the fat he’d greased the wok with. 

    “I caught this meal for us today. I hope the fish ate well.”

    “I shall catch more for us.” 

    “Enjoy.” Quietly, he began to eat, Donghai’s words seeping down into his very soul it seemed.