Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity

I tell Felicity I’d like to visit her home. It’ll be cool to see a real Williamsburg house and family, especially since I’ll be a junior interpreter this summer. The Merrimans’ house is white clapboard with cheery yellow trim. It looks orderly and balanced, with the same number of windows on each side of the door and the same size flower gardens on each side of the walk. Felicity introduces her younger sister, Nan. She has a shy, sweet smile. She says she’s staying near the house so she can hear William when he wakes up. William is Felicity’s three-year-old brother. Mother is out back talking to Marcus. She wants him to dig a new garden.

As we walk around to the backside of the house, Felicity whispers that she can’t imagine how Nan can stay so quiet and patient all the time. I can’t help laughing. I ask if Marcus is another brother. Felicity explains Marcus helps Father with heavy work, sometimes at the home, sometimes at the store.

But as I look ahead, I realize my mistake. A lovely woman, who I presume is Felicity’s mother, is talking to a handsome black man with close-cropped hair. He refers to her as “mistress.” My feet stop moving. Is Marcus a slave?

Felicity simply responds yes. She’s confused as to why I stopped walking. She explains he’s been with her family for as long as she can remember.

We’ve studied slavery in school, and I know that in 1775, many white people owned black people. I know that tobacco was the most important crop in Virginia, and black slaves did most of the hard labor. And, we learned about how horrible slavery was. My mouth feels dry. I look ahead at Marcus. He wears nice clothes and looks well-fed. Mrs. Merriman is speaking to him quietly, not screaming. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s not free.

Felicity asks if I am well. She asks if she should fetch me some water. I say yes, and she hurries away. I step back around the corner, out of sight. I need to think hard about being here, because suddenly I am very uncomfortable. I wanted an adventure and learn… I didn’t think I’d meet an enslaved man at Felicity’s house.

What do I do? Do I stay, even though it’s upsetting? I’ll do better as an interpreter if I learn about everything, even the terrible things. But another part of me isn’t sure I can bear it.