The Train Ride Day One

To my beloved readers,

Many of you know me as an inspirational writer, a poet, a Psalmist, and a Folklorist but what some may not know is that I’m also a novelist. Today, I want to take a moment to showcase a small piece of that part of my craft.

The following reading comes from Sally Ann: Volume 2 a novel that has never been released to the public. I’ve chosen two chapters to share with you here, just a glimpse into a story that’s long been archived in my collection.

If what you read stirs your curiosity, the rest of Sally Ann: Volume 2 and many of my other works can be found in the forum. I hope you enjoy what’s to come.

With heart and purpose,

Kateb

The Train Ride

Sally Ann   Part 2

By Kateb Nuri-Alim Shunnar

DAY ONE

Oh Lord, thank You for letting me see another day, ‘cause without You, I wouldn't be here. All praise is due to God for waking me up in my right mind and spirit. Today is my day, Lord I can feel it! Lord, I’m so happy to be leaving Albany. What a blessing! No more country life for me. I'm movin’ to the city now. Lord, I'm movin’ up in this little ole world. I just know the best is waiting for this little country gal.

Oh Lord, shine Your light on me, ‘cause Your blessings and mercy are what I really need. Lord oh Lord send Your angels down to walk with me and guide me.

Well Lord, I gotta go get these children together. I know I can catch a ride from one of them farmers headin’ into town they usually start passin’ by around a quarter past nine, and I want us ready early. I refuse to miss that ride. I plan to be standin’ outside by the front gate with my bags, ready to flee Albany once and for all.

—Narrator—

As soon as Sally Ann finished talkin’ to the Lord, she went downstairs to fix breakfast for the family before headin’ off to Detroit. The moment she stepped into the kitchen, there sat Hezekiah and Nathaniel, drinkin’ coffee at the table and talkin’ about how foolish she was for wantin’ to leave Albany for Detroit.

Sally hid in the corner, listening as Hezekiah and Nathaniel dragged her name for a good five minutes. Nathaniel said, “Man, my little sister ain’t nothin’ but a damn fool tryin’ to run everything. Now that she sees she can’t rule over all, she’s runnin’ up North like it’s gonna fix her life.”

Well, Sally jumped out the corner, full of fire, grabbed Nathaniel by the shirt and shouted, “Your wife’s the fool for marryin’ a man soft as a pillow! Matter of fact I got your fool right here. Oh yes, I got it, big brother. You ready? Well, I’m leavin’ Lester and Jessie with you right here in Albany. That means no more gettin’ drunk at night, no more partyin’. And I’m so sorry to tell you it also means you gotta spend more of your time and money on them children and not your little side piece. Ha! Ain’t that funny?”

When she finished sassin’ him, she let go of his shirt, pushed him to the floor, and kicked him on her way to the icebox to grab the sausage and ham.

Hezekiah stood up and said, “Sally Ann, you makin’ a big mistake.”

She turned right back around and said, “The only mistake bein’ made right now is you and my sorry brother still standin’ in my kitchen! If you’ve got any sense, you’ll leave and come back later, after me, Peachy, and Alvin are long gone. Now get on out, Mister Hezekiah Hollowbrook and take that fool of a brother of mine with you!”

Hezekiah grabbed Nathaniel and rushed to the back door, shoutin’ behind him, “If you ever need me, Sally Ann, you know where I live. Don’t be afraid to write and don’t forget to keep us country folk in your prayers!”

Now that Hezekiah and Nathaniel were gone, Sally finally got the children up to eat and get ready. They only had about thirty-five minutes before them farmers started comin’ by. She stood in the hallway and hollered twice:

“PEACHY! ALVIN! GET DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW!

PEACHY! ALVIN! GET DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW!”

Within three minutes, Peachy and Alvin came rushin’ down like floodwaters breakin’ a dam and their bags came tumblin’ down like debris. Lord knows them children love Sally Ann; they stuck to her like glue. They listened to everything she said, and there wasn’t nothin’ in this world that could break their bond not even death.

Peachy and Alvin were just as excited as Sally Ann to be leavin’ the farm. They ate breakfast like they hadn’t eaten in weeks. They were in such a rush, they even started pushin’ Sally to hurry up.

At the table, Alvin said, “Hurry up, Sis! You want me to get your shoes and put ’em on your feet?”

Peachy jumped up and said, “Sally Ann, I’ll wash the dishes while Alvin helps you check we got everything. I’ll even write a letter for Jessie and Lester to read when they come back from droppin’ off Paw and Uncle June Bug’s things.”

Then she added, “Now come on, Sally it’s eight-forty!”

Sally jumped up like the Holy Ghost touched her. Alvin grabbed her hand like she was blind and guided her to the hall to grab her chest and bags. Then he ran back inside for the rest.

Poor Sally was so tired, she could hardly breathe. She just sat on her chest outside, waitin’ for Peachy and Alvin. But her patience lasted as long as a muffin in a room full of hungry folks. Peachy and Alvin were takin’ too long, so Sally hollered:

“Y’ALL BETTER COME ON AND STOP DRAGGIN’,

‘CAUSE HERE COMES THE WAGON!”

When she said that, Peachy and Alvin came bustin’ out the house with a ton of bags, tryin’ to reach the front gate before the wagon passed.

In fear of missin’ it, Alvin dropped his bags and ran out into the road, shoutin’, “MISTER! MISTER! PLEASE STOP RIGHT NOW!”

The rider tried to steer around him, but Peachy ran up and jumped on the wagon, shoutin’, “Now look here, Mister! You can’t take a beautiful gal like me for a ride and leave my sister and brother behind! Stop that horse, my sugar boo!”

“Sugar boo?” the rider laughed so hard, he started cryin’. By the time he pulled himself together, Sally and Alvin had thrown their things on the back of the wagon and settled in for the ride.

Peachy looked at the rider and said, “Mister, why you sittin’ there? I ain’t got time to be waitin’. I’m tryna get to the train station now go on and stop hesitatin’!”

The rider just smiled, let loose the reins, and cracked that horse’s back with his drover’s whip. As the wagon rolled away from the farm, Peachy started sayin’ goodbye to everything she saw:

“BYE-BYE, CHICKENS!

BYE-BYE,  COWS!

BYE-BYE, PIGS!

BYE-BYE, GOOD OLE WHOLESOME VEGETABLES!

BYE-BYE, HORSES I KNOW Y’ALL GONNA MISS ME!”

By now, everyone on the wagon was tired of Peachy’s hollerin’. Sally Ann shouted from the back:

“PEACHY! OH, PEACHY! IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP,

I’M GONNA COME UP THERE AND SNATCH THAT TONGUE RIGHT OUT YOUR MOUTH!”

Poor Peachy got embarrassed. Alvin and the rider were crackin’ up. Peachy turned slowly, lookin’ mean, and said to Alvin:

“I know you ain’t laughin’ at me with them big ole rabbit teeth! We gotta wrap them teeth up at night just so you don’t bite off your lips. You ain’t brushed ’em in about four years they look like slabs of butter!”

Sally quickly jumped in. “Alright now both of y’all quit messin’ with each other before somebody gets hurt and we all get stuck back on that farm!”

Peachy stood up, huffed, and said, “Okay, Sally Ann, but he started it!”

And just like that BAM!!

A branch from a red mulberry tree smacked Peachy clean off that wagon. She hit the ground like a Georgia peach fallin’ off the tree in summertime.

Sally Ann screamed, “MISTER!! STOP THE WAGON NOW, PLEASE!!”

The rider yanked the reins…

Sally Ann and Alvin jumped off the wagon and rushed to Peachy, who lay sprawled in the middle of the dirt road like a dead possum ugly and still.

“Oh Lord, we’re gonna be stuck!” Alvin shouted, his voice full of rage, right in Peachy’s ear. “This is all your fault! We’re gonna be stuck here for who knows how long. You crazy fool! If it were up to me, I’d leave you right here with those blackened eyes!”

Sally Ann laughed at him and said, “Alvin, you look so cute tryin’ to act tough. Now go on down to that creek over yonder and fetch me two leeches so I can put them on this child’s eyes.”

Alvin took off toward the creek, and Sally Ann tried to help Peachy to her feet. But poor Peachy just kept falling, like a drunk stumbling over and over again. So, Sally let her lie there and started smacking her face seven good whacks while crying out, “CAN YOU HEAR ME, PEACHY? PLEASE, GET UP!”

But Peachy didn’t respond. She just lay there, barely breathing.

“Hurry up, Alvin!” Sally shouted. Alvin came running back with two fat, juicy leeches in his hands. “Give ’em here,” Sally said, snatching them. She placed them gently on Peachy's swollen eyes.

About three minutes later, Peachy bolted upright, screaming, “Oh my God! Something is sucking me! Get it off me now!”

If only you could’ve seen her. She ran around like she was on fire, wild and flailing, until she finally collapsed like she’d caught the Holy Ghost at Sunday morning service. If Sally Ann, Alvin, and the Rider had been church ushers, they’d have been kicked out for sure they just stood there laughing.

Alvin was the worst of them. He ran over, snatched the leeches off her face, then slapped her three times while yelling, “PEACHY! PEACHY!”

As he hollered and slapped, Peachy slowly opened her bruised eyes and whispered, “Alvin… am I dying?”

Alvin softened his voice and replied, “If I looked as ugly as you do right now, I’d sure want to.”

Then he called over Sally Ann and the Rider, and together they helped Peachy back onto the wagon so they could continue their ride to the train station.

Once everyone was back on board, Sally Ann turned in her seat and said, “Alvin, Peachy if I hear one more word of foolishness from either of y’all, I swear I’ll whoop you from Albany to Detroit without an ounce of mercy. Do you understand me?”

Peachy groaned, “Yes, Sally Ann.”

Alvin just smiled and said, “Ha! Yes, Sally Ann. Got it. But… we may have a little problem boardin’ the train together.”

Sally Ann narrowed her eyes. “What problem, boy?”

Alvin chuckled, “Well, since Peachy looks so rough, they might make us ride with the livestock. She looks like one of them!”

Peachy shot back, “You may be right, Alvin, but at least I won’t be alone. With those rabbit teeth of yours, I’m pretty sure they’ll make you ride in the back too. Now laugh at that.”

“Oh no, wait just a minute,” Sally Ann said, standing up. “Y’all really thought I was playin’ earlier when I said I didn’t want to hear no more mess from the two of you. You just had to test me!”

Before she could reach them, the Rider snapped, “All of you shut your mouths before I put you off this wagon and leave you walkin’ with all those bags. As long as you ridin’ with me, I’m the chief!”

From that moment on, nobody said another word. They just rode in silence, all the way to the train station. They arrived around eleven-o'eight not a minute too early or too late as the conductor called for all the colored folks to board cart number eight.

Sally Ann, Alvin, and Peachy grabbed their bags and walked toward the train. All three of them were smiling, knowing their time had finally come for a new beginning.

From a distance, the Rider shouted, “Hurry up and get on that cart! The train’s pullin’ off. Now y’all be safe I’ll be prayin’ for ya!”

Sally Ann and her family made it onto the train just in time. As the wheels began to turn faster and faster, Sally Ann looked out the window, tears streaming down her face.

“Well, Albany,” she whispered, “I guess this is the last time I’ll see you. Never again shall I look upon your face. I thank God I was able to get my little brother and sister outta this dreadful place. Lord, let the next place we set our feet be Detroit no more country living. Here come the Owens family… headed to the city.”