Cotton-Pickin' Southern Belle

By Seletha Head Tucker

You are a rich Southern Belle who has never had to work and everything is great, or is it? What was your life like before the riches? What did your ancestors have to do to achieve such wealth? What sacrifices were made on your behalf?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528955683

Seletha Head Tucker

The author is a kindergarten teacher at an elementary school in St. Louis, Missouri. She has published a couple of children's books, as well as a book of prayers, and a Christian help book for women. She enjoys singing, worshipping God, and teaching. Her favorite pastimes are shopping and traveling.

Book preview

Belle

About the Author

The author is a kindergarten teacher at an elementary school in St. Louis, Missouri. She has published a couple of children’s books, as well as a book of prayers, and a Christian help book for women. She enjoys singing, worshipping God, and teaching. Her favorite pastimes are shopping and traveling.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my mother, Willie Mae Head, who has always been there to encourage me and make me believe there was nothing I could not achieve. Thank you for the prayers and everything you instilled in us.

Copyright Information

Copyright © Seletha Head Tucker (2019)

The right of Seletha Head Tucker to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781788785631 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781788785648 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781788785655 (Kindle e-book)

ISBN 9781528955683 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge my husband, Andrew, who has been instrumental in helping me from the beginning. Thanks for all you’ve done to support me. My children, Andrea Joy Tucker and Andrew James Tucker, I want to acknowledge you for the push and never ever doubting my success. You are truly a blessing from God. Thanks, my prayer warrior sister/friends: Priscilla Walker, India Watson, Machella Nelson, and Leslie Talley.

Cotton-Pickin’ Southern Belle

My hands are bleeding, Mama!!! I can’t pick anymore. Why do we have to do this all day, every day, and why doesn’t Emily have to do this?

I know that it hurts, baby, but we have to do this, and no more questions. I will explain everything to you later.

But, Mama, it hurts!!! Please, Mommy, I can’t pick another round of cotton.

Please, honey, it’s going to be over soon; just hold on. God is going to hear our prayers, Mama explained.

Stop it, stop it, leave me alone! I screamed.

Wake up, Vanessa!! Vanessa, wake up! Matthew said as he ran into the room where Vanessa was sleeping.

It was only a dream. It was so real. I keep having these dreams over and over again, and I keep waking up in a sweat.

It’s okay. What’s going on with you and these dreams?

I don’t know, but they are getting more and more vivid, I said as I sat up in the bed. They are really scaring me. Could they mean something? I know we have lived in Georgia all our lives, but could the dreams mean something?

Maybe you should pray about it, said Matthew.

You know, I never thought about that but maybe I should pray about it.

You see, all I knew all my life was that I was a Georgia Belle; in other words, a Southern Belle. And in Georgia, Southern Belles are the most respected, highest regarded female there is. We are known for our poise, our class, our intelligence, and definitely for our attire.

You see, we could be found wearing the most beautiful, most elegant gowns, shoes, hats, and jewelry. All I knew is that for my entire life we have lived in this magnificent house that was so extravagant that it could be considered a castle. Even though I am now married to this great man who loves the ground I walk on, we don’t need to have a place of our own because this place is large enough for all of us. We happen to occupy quarters on the south side of the house where we have our own staff, our own dining hall, our own baths, and living quarters. There are diamonds and pearls inside the colorful drapes that encompass each area of the house. Each bed in each room has tall bedposts and beds so high that you have to stand on a stool to get in them.

My parents are wealthy and it amazes me each day how they act so calmly about their riches. My mother had been a fashion designer and had made a living combining old fabrics with new fabrics. She could make an entire wardrobe out of pieces of material that had already been sewn together. You could bring her two items of clothing, be it a skirt or blouse or pants and she could take those items and somehow combine them and make them something entirely new. I don’t know where she got this idea but it was ingenious. She and my father, who is a very handsome, tall, caramel-colored gentleman with dark wavy hair on his head and face. He also has a very deep voice and can sing.

Mother said he could have been a famous singer but he chose to be a barber. He just liked the way hair felt in his hands. He started doing it when he was young using scissors to cut his own hair and then his brother’s and later, his father, uncles, and the entire community wanted him. There were even women who would call on him to do their hair. At first, he didn’t think it was proper for a man to do a woman’s hair, so he would practice on Mom’s hair. Before long, her hair was halfway down her back, silky, curly. She finally convinced him to do other women’s hair. Of course, she had to be somewhere around when he was doing their hair just to keep things in perspective.

I knew they had made their money the honest way, so I didn’t feel it was necessary to ask anything about their ancestors. She had told me that her parents had died after she moved to Georgia, but that was all she had told me. But, maybe, just maybe, I should find out what happened before they moved to Georgia. Maybe this would give me more insight into my dreams, but first let me pray before I go to ask.

Father God, I love you and praise you. God, I don’t know the answer to my dreams. I don’t know why I am having these dreams but, God, you know. God, I ask that you lead, guide, and direct me to the answers I am seeking. Let Mother and Father be willing and open to give me whatever information they may have to help me understand my life past and present. In your son Jesus’s name, Father. Amen.

Well, it was Saturday morning, and may be this is a good day to talk to my mother about the dreams that I have been having. But I must be led in how I begin the conversation.

Help me, Jesus. I don’t want her to think that I do not appreciate all she has done for us.

Good morning, Mother.

"Good morning, Vanessa, how are you this morning? Mathew said you have been having some problems