My day begins at 6:00 am and I begin by helping my teacher smooth out wood with the jack plain and make patterns on a long piece of wood using the cornered plain. As I work I can see old Thomas. He is a journey man in my workshop. A journey man is someone that is of age and has much experience, so he in turn is very respected within the workshop. My teacher, John, hands me the jack plain so I can smooth wood. The Jack Plain’s blade is jutting out so I hit the front which makes it contract into the opening. I continue working this way until it is 6:30 p.m. and then I leave without any pay in my pocket.
“William! Where do you think you’re going?” said John, to which I did not respond knowing that if I did he would scowl me and call me a thief. Although the only thing I received from him was time and scowls. I walked and walked and walked. Later I realized my mistake. I had run away from my future I had to learn how to survive. So I looked for someone else to work with and fortunately Steward the carpenter took me in, but always kept an eye on me, as if he did not trust me. The work was not too different except for Steward’s kindness and he gave me free meals. It was not too long until I meet with John and he was so angry at me he began screaming ” you rascal! I had taken treated you so well and you repay me with this!” I did not have the courage to look him in the eyes I turned away and found myself between two enemies. Steward and John were old time enemies and had generally not the best attitude towards each other since the day that Steward married Belle, John’s previous love.
“You cankerblossom, she should have married me” said John, to what Steward responded
“All you wanted was her family’s wealth. ” Angrily John shoot back with rage,
“A man like you should not be in society, may I see your hand” Steward knew that he had been unfairly branded, with a T as a thief because he had to steal a loaf of bread to maintain his family alive during the winter five years ago. With this, the dispute ended with that cruel remark and each man turned and mumbled. I was left with confusion but did not feel I was alone anymore.
When I was walking home I found that my family’s home was empty. I had a strange feeling so I went outside and asked the woman next door where my family went and she answered.
“That witch? She is on trial for making my son sick. I had to brew him some herbs to rid him of her evil spells. Even my husband the blacksmith has to go to the trial.” I was shocked and grieved, as I knew that there had been many cases like these before and the results were usually death. The next day after a day at work I came home and found my father sitting on the bench alone with a troubled face. So I took a deck of cards from the table and offered my dad to play as there was nothing else we could do but let time pass. I was used to playing cards because they were used to teach me numbers and other arithmetic at a very young age.
The day of the trial I was walking towards the Capitol building and I saw a few Africans working on making shillings. I saw that, unlike me, they did not have the option of running away simply because they had nowhere to run and they did not have a future apart from slave work. When we reached the court I noticed my mother was famished, but I still had hope that her case would be different. The next day at home my mother was oddly quiet but still cooked and took care of my brothers. The time in jail had changed her, she was chained to a wall and and had no privacy with the other women. A few years later Steward died, he was cried over by many but time goes on and I am in charge of the workshop now. Now I have my own apprentice named James. He will make a fine carpenter when I’m gone.