Seventeen

Momma’s husband Tiny, the overseer

Tiny was the overseer on the plantation. He had charge of keeping sure that the field hands were doing everything they were told to do.  The master was really the one who made the orders, but it was the overseer who had to be there every minute to be sure the work was done correctly.  And it’s funny, but even if he was your friend, he would still take his job seriously.  If you weren’t doing what you were supposed to do, he would make sure it got done right.  Because if you didn’t do your job right, he would get hell for it himself, and he would risk getting a beating or hung or worse himself.  He would go up and down the rows watching you put your seeds down and telling you when you missed a weed or if you didn’t bend down low enough in the fields.  He was so particular he wanted to be sure everything was done correctly so he wouldn’t catch it for mistakes the field hands made.

And if you think Tiny’s job sounds easy because he just had to watch everyone else bending down and standing back up again all day long, well, then you would be wrong.  Tiny often had to redo things himself to be sure they were right if a line got crooked or something cause Master would surely have something to say about it.  It would be Tiny’s hide that would pay if something wasn’t done right.  Tiny was loyal, that’s one thing for sure, and he certainly wouldn’t tell Master who it was that messed up. He’d rather just get it right himself so no one had to pay hell.  But his job was double hard then because he had to watch, and he had to be up and down doing the work itself, making sure everything got done fast enough.  If it wasn’t done fast enough to Master’s liking, well there’d be hell to pay then too.  I don’t know what all Master got upset about sometimes he changed his mind what he wanted and they’d have to quick finish the job before it got too dark to see.  Once Master said he wanted to see the field plowed a certain direction, so we got the animals all hooked up and had to change it again.

Tiny took his job very seriously.  As much as Momma was the one you went to when you got in trouble for something or if you needed something, Tiny was just the opposite of that.  You did not mess with Tiny and you didn’t ask him to give you a break.  In fact, if you got in trouble with Tiny you went to Momma to help you feel better about it.  She would sneak you some rations or extra food or a cookie she kept in a pocket in her apron.  I wondered if she and Tiny talked about it later.  It was like they were our mother and father.  You got in trouble with Dad and then you went to Momma for reassurance that you were doing okay.