The Color Purple Read online

  Sofia say, I say, Hell no.

  He slap her.

  I stop telling it right there.

  Squeak on the edge of her seat. She wait. Look down my throat some more.

  No need to say no more, Mr.??? say. You know what happen if somebody slap Sofia.

  Squeak go white as a sheet. Now, she say.

  Naw nothing, I say. Sofia knock the man down.

  The polices come, start slinging the children off the mayor, bang they heads together. Sofia really start to fight. They drag her to the ground.

  This far as I can go with it, look like. My eyes git full of water and my throat close.

  Poor Squeak all scrunch down in her chair, trembling.

  They beat Sofia, Mr.??? say.

  Squeak fly up like she sprung, run over hind the counter to Harpo, put her arms round him. They hang together a long time, cry.

  What the prizefighter do in all this? I ast Sofia sister, Odessa.

  He want to jump in, she say. Sofia say No, take the children home.

  Polices have they guns on him anyway. One move, he dead. Six of them, you know.

  Mr.??? go plead with the sheriff to let us see Sofia. Bub be in so much trouble, look so much like the sheriff, he and Mr.??? almost on family terms. Just long as Mr.??? know he colored.

  Sheriff say, She a crazy woman, your boy's wife. You know that?

  Mr.??? say, Yassur, us do know it. Been trying to tell Harpo she crazy for twelve years. Since way before they marry. Sofia come from crazy peoples, Mr.??? say, it not all her fault. And then again, the sheriff know how womens is, anyhow.

  Sheriff think bout the women he know, say, Yep, you right there.

  Mr.??? say, We gon tell her she crazy too, if us ever do git in to see her.

  Sheriff say, Well make sure you do. And tell her she lucky she alive.

  When I see Sofia I don't know why she still alive. They crack her skull, they crack her ribs. They tear her nose loose on one side.

  They blind her in one eye. She swole from head to foot. Her tongue the size of my arm, it stick out tween her teef like a piece of rubber. She can't talk.

  And she just about the color of a eggplant.

  Scare me so bad I near bout drop my grip. But I don't. I put it on the floor of the cell, take out comb and brush, nightgown, witch hazel and alcohol and I start to work on her. The colored tendant bring me water to wash her with, and I start at her two little slits for eyes.

  They put Sofia to work in the prison laundry. All day long from five to eight she washing clothes. Dirty convict uniforms, nasty sheets and blankets piled way over her head. Us see her twice a month for hah7 a hour. Her face yellow and sickly, her fingers look like fatty sausage.

  Everything nasty here, she say, even the air. Food bad enough to kill you with it. Roaches here, mice, flies, lice and even a snake or two. If you say anything they strip you, make you sleep on a cement floor without a light.

  How you manage? us ast.

  Every time they ast me to do something, Miss Celie, I act like I'm you. I jump right up and do just what they say.

  She look wild when she say that, and her bad eye wander round the room.

  Mr.??? suck in his breath. Harpo groan. Miss Shug cuss. She come from Memphis special to see Sofia.

  I can't fix my mouth to say how I feel.

  I'm a good prisoner, she say. Best convict they ever see. They can't believe I'm the one sass the mayor's wife, knock the mayor down. She laugh. It sound like something from a song. The part where everybody done gone home but you.

  Twelve years a long time to be good though, she say.

  Maybe you git out on good behavior, say Harpo.

  Good behavior ain't good enough for them, say Sofia. Nothing less than sliding on your belly with your tongue on they boots can even git they attention. I dream of murder, she say, I dream of murder sleep or wake.

  Us don't say nothing.

  How the children? she ast.

  They all fine, say Harpo. Tween Odessa and Squeak, they git by.

  Say thank you to Squeak, she say. Tell Odessa I think about hen Us all sit round the table after supper. Me, Shug, Mr.???-, Squeak, the prizefighter, Odessa and two more of Sofia sisters.

  Sofia not gon last, say Mr. ___.

  Yeah, say Harpo, she look little crazy to me.

  And what she had to say, say Shug. My God.

  Us got to do something, say Mr.??? and be right quick about it.

  What can us do? ast Squeak. She look a little haggard with all Sofia and Harpo children sprung on her at once, but she carry on.

  Hair a little stringy, slip show, but she carry on.

  Bust her out, say Harpo. Git some dynamite off the gang that's building that big bridge down the road, blow the whole prison to kingdom come.

  Shut up,- Harpo, say Mr.???, us trying to think.

  I got it, say the prizefighter, smuggle in a gun. Well, he rub his chin, maybe smuggle in a file.

  Naw, say Odessa. They just come after her if she leave that way.

  Me and Squeak don't say nothing. I don't know what she think, but I think bout angels, God coming down by chariot, swinging down real low and carrying ole Sofia home. I see 'em all as clear as day. Angels all in white, white hair and white eyes, look like albinos. God all white too, looking like some stout white man work at the bank. Angels strike they cymbals, one of them blow his horn, God blow out a big breath of fire and suddenly Sofia free.

  Who the warden's black kinfolks? say Mr.???.

  Nobody say nothing.

  Finally the prizefighter speak. What his name? he ast.

  Hodges, say Harpo. Bubber Hodges.

  Old man Henry Hodges' boy, say Mr.???. Used to live out on the old Hodges' place.

  Got a brother name Jimmy? ast Squeak.

  Yeah, say Mr.???. Brother name Jimmy. Married to that Quitman girl. Daddy own the hardware. You know them?

  Squeak duck her head. Mumble something.

  Say what? ast Mr.???.

  Squeak cheek turn red. She mumble again.

  He your what? Mr.??? ast.

  Cousin, she say.

  Mr.??? look at her.

  Daddy, she say. She cut her eye at Harpo. Look at the floor.

  He know anything bout it? ast Mr.???.

  Yeah, she say. He got three children by my mama. Two younger than me.

  His brother know anything bout it? ast Mr. ___.

  One time he come by the house with Mr. Jimmy, he give us all quarters, say we sure do look. like Hodges.

  Mr.??? rear back in his chair, give Squeak a good look from head to foot. Squeak push her greasy brown hair back from her face.

  Yeah, say Mr.???. I see the resemblance. He bring his chair down on the floor.

  Well, look like you the one to go.

  Go where, ast Squeak.

  Go see the warden. He your uncle.

  Us dress Squeak like she a white woman, only her clothes patch. She got on a starch and iron dress, high heel shoes with scuffs, and a old hat somebody give Shug. Us give her a old pocketbook look like a quilt and a little black bible. Us wash her hair and git all the grease out, then I put it up in two plaits that cross over her head. Us bathe her so clean she smell like a good dean floor.

  What I'm gon say? she ast.

  Say you living with Sofia husband and her husband say Sofia not being punish enough. Say she laugh af the fool she make of the guards. Say she gitting along just fine where she at. Happy even, long as she don't have to be no white woman maid.

  Gracious God, say Squeak, how I'm gonna tune up my mouth to say all that?

  He ast you who you is, make him remember. Tell him how much that quarter he give you meant to you.

  That was fifteen years ago, say Squeak, he ain't gonna remember that.

  Make him see the Hodges in you, say Odessa. He'll remember.

  Tell him you just think justice ought to be done, yourself. But make sure he know you living with Sofia husband, say Shug. Make sure you git in the part
bout being happy where she at, worse thing could happen to her is to be some white lady maid.

  I don't know, say the prizefighter. This sound mighty much like some ole uncle Tomming to me.

  Shug snort, Well, she say, Uncle Tom wasn't call Uncle for nothing.

  Poor little Squeak come home with a limp. Her dress rip. Her hat missing and one of the heels come off her shoe.

  What happen? us ast.

  He saw the Hodges in me, she say. And he didn't like it one bit.

  Harpo come up the steps from the car. My wife beat up, my woman rape, he say. I ought to go back out there with guns, maybe set fire to the place, burn the crackers up.

  Shut up, Harpo, say Squeak. I'm telling it.

  And she do.

  Say, the minute I walk through the door, he remembered me.

  What he say? us ast.

  Say, What you want? I say, I come out of the interest I haves in seeing justice is done. What you say you want? he ast again.

  I say what yall told me to say. Bout Sofia not being punish enough. Say she happy in prison, strong girl like her. Her main worry is just the thought of ever being some white woman maid. That what start the fight, you know, I say. Mayor's wife ask Sofia to be her maid. Sofia say she never going to be no white woman's nothing, let alone maid.

  That so? he ast, all the time looking me over real good.

  Yessir, I say. Say, prison suit her just fine. Shoot, washing and ironing all day is all she do at home. She got six children, you know.

  That a fact? he say.

  He come from behind his desk, lean over my chair.

  Who your folks? he ast.

  I tell him my mama's name, grandmama's name. Grandpa's name.

  Who your daddy? he ast. Where you git them eyes?

  Ain't got no daddy, J say.

  Come on now, he say. Ain't I seen you before?

  I say, Yessir. And one time bout ten years ago, when I was a little girl, you give me a quarter. I sure did preshate it, I say.

  I don't remember that, he say.

  You come by the house with my mama friend, Mr. Jimmy, I say.

  Squeak look round at all of us. Then take a deep breath. Mumble.

  Say what? ast Odessa.

  Yeah, say Shug, if you can't tell us, who you gon tell, God?

  He took my hat off, say Squeak. Told me to undo my dress. She drop her head, put her face hi her hands.

  My God, say Odessa, and he your uncle.

  He say if he was my uncle he wouldn't do it to me. That be a sin. But this just little fornication. Everybody guilty of that.

  She turn her face up to Harpo. Harpo, she say, do you really love me, or just my color?

  Harpo say, I love you, Squeak. He kneel down and try to put his arms round her waist.

  She stand up. My name Mary Agnes, she say.

  6 months after Mary Agnes went to git Sofia out of prison, she begin to sing. First she sing Shug's songs, then she begin to make up songs her own self.

  She got the kind of voice you never think of trying to sing a song. It tittle, it high, it sort of meowing. But Mary Agnes don't care.

  Pretty soon, us git used to it. Then us like it a whole lot.

  Harpo don't know what to make of it.

  It seem funny to me, he say to me and Mr.???. So sudden. It put me in the mind of a gramaphone. Sit in the corner a year silent as the grave. Then you put a record on, it come to life.

  Wonder if she still mad Sofia knock her teef out? I ast.

  Yeah, she mad. But what good being mad gon do? She not evil, she know Sofia life hard to bear right now.

  How she-git long with the children? ast Mr. _____.

  They love her, say Harpo. She let 'em do anything they want.

  Oh-oh, I say.

  Besides, he say, Odessa and Sofia other sisters always on hand to take up the slack. They bring up children like military.

  Squeak sing,

  They calls me yellow like yellow be my name

  They calls me yellow like yellow be my name

  But if yellow is a name

  Why ain't black the same

  Well, if I say Hey black girl Lord, she try to ruin my game Sofia say to me today, I just can't understand it.

  What that? I ast.

  Why we ain't already kill them off.

  Three years after she beat she out of the wash house, got her color and her weight back, look like her old self, just all time think bout killing somebody.

  Too many to kill off, I say. Us outnumbered from the start. I speck we knock over one or two, though, here and there, through the years, I say.

  We sit on a piece of old crate out near the edge of Miss Millie's yard. Rusty nails stick out long the bottom and when us move they creak gainst the wood.

  Sofia job to watch the children play ball. The little boy throw the ball to the little girl, she try to catch it with her eyes shut. It roll up under Sofia foot.

  Throw me the ball, say the little boy, with his hands on his hip. Throw me the ball.

  Sofia mutter to herself, half to me. I'm here to watch, not to throw, she say. She don't make a move toward the ball.

  Don't you hear me talking to you, he shout. He maybe six years old, brown hair, ice blue eyes. He come steaming up to where us sit, haul off and kick Sofia leg. She swing her foot to one side and he scream.

  What the trouble? I ast.

  Done stab his foot with a rusty nail, Sofia say.

  Sure enough, blood come leaking through his shoe.

  His little sister come watch him cry. He turn redder and redder. Call his mama.

  Miss Millie come running. She scared of Sofia. Everytime she talk to her it like she expect the worst. She don't stand close to her either. When she git a few yards from where us sit, she motion for Billy to come there.

  My foot, he say to her.

  Sofia do it? she ast.

  Little girl pipe up. Billy do it his own self, she say. Trying to kick Sofia leg. The little girl dote on Sofia, always stick up for her. Sofia never notice, she as deef to the little girl as she is to her brother.

  Miss Millie cut her eyes at her, put one arm round Billy shoulder and they limp into the back of the house. Little girl follow, wave bye-bye to us.

  She seem like a right sweet little thing, I say to Sofia.

  Who is? She frown.

  The little girl, I say. What they call her, Eleanor Jane?

  Yeah, say Sofia, with a real puzzle look on her face, I wonder why she was ever born.

  Well, I say, us don't have to wonder that bout darkies.

  She giggle. Miss Celie, she say, you just as crazy as you can be.

  This the first giggle I heard in three years.

  Sofia would make a dog laugh, talking about those people she work for. They have the nerve to try to make us think slavery fell through because of us, say Sofia. Like us didn't have sense enough to handle it. All the time breaking hoe handles and letting the mules loose in the wheat. But how anything they build can last a day is a wonder to me. They backward, she say. Clumsy, and unlucky.

  Mayor??? bought Miz Millie a new car, cause she said if colored could have cars then one for her was past due. So he bought her a car, only he refuse to show her how to drive it. Every day he come home from town he look at her, look out the window at her car, say, How you enjoying 'er Miz Millie. She fly off the sofa in a huff, slam the door going in the bathroom.

  She ain't got no friends.

  So one day she say to me, car been sitting out in the yard two months, Sofia, do you know how to drive? I guess she remembered first seeing me up gainst Buster Broadnax car.

  Yes ma'am, I say. I'm slaving away cleaning that big post they got down at the bottom of the stair. They act real funny bout that post. No finger prints is sposed to be on it, ever.

  Do you think you could teach me? she says.

  One of Sofia children break in, the oldest boy. He tall and handsome, all the time serious. And mad a lot.

  He say, Don't say slaving, Mam
a.

  Sofia say, Why not? They got me in a little storeroom up under the house, hardly bigger than Odessa's porch, and just about as warm in the winter time. I'm at they beck and call all night and all day. They won't let me see my children. They won't let me see no mens. Well, after five years they let me see you once a year. I'm a slave, she say. What would you call it?

  A captive, he say.

  Sofia go on with her story, only look at him like she glad he hers.

  So I say, Yes ma'am. I can teach you, if it the same kind of car I learned on.

  Next thing you know there go me and Miz Millie all up and down the road. First I drive and she watch, then she start to try to drive and I watch her. Up and down the road. Soon as I finish cooking breakfast, putting it on the table, washing dishes and sweeping die floor? and just before I go git the mail out of the box down by the road? we go give Miz Millie her driving lesson.

  Well, after while she got die hang of it, more or less. Then she really git it. Then one day when we come home from riding, she say to me, I'm gonna drive you home. Just like that.

  Home? I ast.

  Yes, she say. Home. You ain't been home or seen your children in a while, she say. Ain't that right?

  I say, Yes ma'am. It been five years.

  She say, That's a shame. You just go git your things right now. Here it is, Christmas. Go get your things. You can stay all day.

  For all day I don't need nothing but what I got on, I say.

  Fine, she say. Fine. Well git in.

  Well, say Sofia, I was so use to sitting up there next to her teaching her how to drive, that I just naturally clammed into the front seat.

  She stood outside on her side the car clearing her throat.

  Finally she say, Sofia, with a little laugh, This isthe South.

  Yes ma'am, I say-She clear her throat, laugh some more. Look where you sitting, she say.

  I'm sitting where I always sit, I say.

  That's the problem, she say. Have you ever seen a white person and a colored sitting side by side in a car, when one of 'em wasn't showing the other one how to drive it or clean it?

  I got out the car, opened the back door and clammed in. She sat down up front. Off us traveled down the road, Miz Millie hair blowing all out the window.

  It's real pretty country out this way, she say, when we hit the Marshall county road, coming toward Odessa's house.