To Laura

Dearest Laura,

I’m writing to you from the North. We have arrived safely and we just got settled in here in Pennsylvania with your Aunt Elizabeth and your daughter Amina. I want to apologize to you for leaving abruptly. The moment came and I seized it. I could not stand to stay one more minute at the Johnson’s Plantation. I would rather risk my life escaping to freedom than to serve Mrs. Johnson in the house again. I know that you will miss Amina, but I had to take her with me too. I did not want what happened to me to happen to her. You know, with being one of Mr. Johnson’s kin. Mrs. Johnson would not like that and it was only a matter of time before she would realize that, like me Amina is lighter-skinned than the rest. Swear’ that Mrs. Johnson was really something, always out to get me because her husband was more interested in me than he was her. You never knew what went on in that house during the day and you didn’t need to. But you need to know why I took your baby girl from you. We both know that Master Johnson has his way with us, however you don’t know about the wrath of Mrs. Johnson. Soon Amina would have been called up to work in the house and she would be around Master Johnson too often. I hate the way he looked at her, especially because he knew she was his daughter. He always looked as if he was waiting to devour her. But worse was Mrs. Johnson’s reaction to her husband always lusting after us. Always screaming at me and calling me a savage and an animal. One night she invited a couple of her lady friends over and had me serve them while they made me do humiliating tasks and called me nasty things. One time she even told Master Johnson that I hit her and he whipped me and later that night punished me. All of this to say that when the opportunity came to leave I took it and I took the women who were closest to me with me. We will send back for you, just keep your head down and your spirits high.

Thinking of you every day.

Amina misses her mama.

Abbie