Camouflage

By Victoria E. Kain

Gabriella McPherson, is a fourth generation Native American who enters the world of espionage with her Uncle after the death of the father she never knew. They fight to protect the family’s fortune by concealing the birth of the child she carries and is completely unaware of who the child’s father is after having been artificially in

• Language: English
• Publisher: FYCORE PUBLISHING
• Release date: Oct 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781619100275

Book preview

A CHARGE TO KEEP

Clarissa McPherson, was the eighth child born to Wisdom and Anna Mae McPherson in the desolate city of Hatchechubbee, Alabama. There was much history behind this great city, but its original residents had an abrupt exodus and there were many tales told about what happened here but those stories were told only around the camp fires of those that lived here decades earlier. Hatchechubbee was an unincorporated community in Russell County, Alabama and was located at the junction of Alabama State route 26 and County route 65 about 6.5 miles west-southwest of Seale Alabama. It had a post office which opened on August 17, 1855. (americantowns.com).

It would always be difficult for the school aged children living there in Hatchechubbee to learn how to spell their great city’s name. They were assured by their minimally educated teachers, that in time, they would surely learn to spell it eventually by breaking it into syllables (Hatch-e-chub-bee) , and then they were cautioned to practice spelling it piece by piece until they could put it all together as one proper noun they would never forget. Sadly though, only the gifted children would get it right and the others simply stopped trying if they stayed in school long enough. There were other small cities surrounding Hatchechubbee that were not as hard to spell yet they suffered some of the same injustices as the residents of this old town.

Residents in other areas felt superior in many ways to the people of Hatchechubbee. Hurtsboro, Marvyn, Crawford and Opelika were some of the other surrounding cities to Hatchecheubbee which were once thriving places to call home for many Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians from the east and the west that resided there. Over time, they all were forced to leave their homes where they had lived for many moons. They were ultimately told they had to relocate and leave Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas because of special treaties made by Government officials and other powerful white men at that time.

Many of the Indians left their homes peacefully after promises were made by the Government to relocate them to another state where they were supposed to be able to make a new reservation as their home and would have their own land once again. Sad to say, this did not happen as it was told to them. In order for them to obtain this land, they would be horrified when told they were required to travel on foot to the new location which was hundreds of miles away. The requirement for them to travel this far was cruel, unjust and borderline criminal. Though they tried to comply, many of them died in route of disease and other issues before they reached their new promised land.

Even with the mass exodus, there were others who did not leave Georgia and Alabama. They chose to stay but had the arduous task of finding a safe place to live where they could etch out a new homestead for their families. Some even felt unsafe, and hid their families from the authorities on the same land they had grown to know and love and some even adopted the White man’s way of living in order to survive which created much chaos in their culture. They became slaves to the land and the men that now owned it and them. Some of the McPherson clan were one of those families that were able to evade the mass exodus from Hatchechubbee but would find much difficulty in living a life without their family tribesmen to help support their families. It would mean making many changes in their culture and their lives in order to survive.

The location where the McPherson’s resided in Alabama was widely known by all who lived in the area. The land was filled with many wild turkeys and excellent deer hunting. Food was plentiful and the soil was rich black dirt that was superior for growing vegetables of all kinds unlike the red clay dirt common to many Georgian residents. It was thought that this was one of the reasons the land was sought after by the government and the greedy men in those regions. After the exodus, the reservation was deserted and only a few Native American descendants still lived in those parts of the old home land.

Since the land no longer belonged to Native Americans, the ones who remained would have to accept the difficult new rules for hunting and fishing. They no longer had the freedom to feed their families as they needed to, but would have to abide by seasonal rules and if caught hunting outside of those timelines, they could be fined large amounts of money or other punishments that would be imposed upon them. They would now have to travel to get food or sneak to hunt on the land out of season, no longer being permitted to roam free and openly provide for their own. With these new rules the now illegal residents on the old reservation would sometimes travel up to thirty-six miles to the next largest city, which was Opelika, and about twenty-three miles to Marvyn which was another small town nearby for food.

These cities were sparsely populated as well and only a few folk who owned the town by way of land and money had inherited everything many of their forefather’s had handed down to them. The towns were rural with no street or traffic lights for many decades. The city of Marvyn had a small country store that provided everything from kerosene lamps to fat back. That was pork meat from the hog used for breakfast or cooking vegetables in the South. The store doubled as a mail drop off point if the residents ordered from any mail order catalog. It also carried a variety of candy and other treats for children, such as broken crackers and the Johnny cake cookies that were popular back then. Kids didn’t get much of that, but when they did, it was truly a special occasion.

These were the pick of the day for a child’s taste buds when they were able to get them along with a grape pop, which had not graduated to the label of soda as of yet. Anything that you couldn’t get at the store in Marvyn you travelled to Opelika. There, you had a few other dry goods and specialty stores to choose from, but money was always in need and work was scarce.

Roads were not paved in Hatchechubbee. It was the custom to walk everywhere and over time, there were paths grooved out from people walking on the roadways for centuries going to and from their destinations. The roads were usually clean and gave a clear vision from one end to the other for its traveler to keep them from getting lost in the dark, or getting off track. Most Native Americans were good trackers and used Gods sun, moon and stars as their natural compass.

Deep, dense foliage lined the roadways and presented a cooling effect on summer days. On the flip side, the forest was mysterious and dangerous if you walked those same roads at night. Travelers found themselves walking alone on many occasions. They would sing songs their forefathers sang to them as children and occupied their time and minds, keeping them focused on their destination and their footsteps precise. This was their insurance that they would avoid encountering a snake or anything else that might be travelling the road with them.

They’d sing so as not to become afraid because of the multitude of superstitious teachings that ran high among Native Americans. Foxes and wild boars and other animals were prevalent in these parts and any human noise might scatter them, as well as keep the traveler’s journey unmolested by any other unknown predator. If you were fortunate enough to know someone with a horse and buggy, you rode instead of walking which was always a rare treat. Most folk walked to be unnoticed in the event it was necessary to hide. It was also a natural thing to do and served the purpose of keeping people healthy and strong. It was widely known that Native Americans lived very long lives unless there was a war. The senior McPherson’s were well known in these parts.

Wisdom’s father and mother had resided here until they passed away before the new treaties were made. They had escaped the trauma of the mad exodus the tribes would face. They had died old and satisfied on the reservation with no regrets except wanting peace with all men that never came during their lifetime. They had prayed for rain along with praying for their children to survive the oppression they knew would soon be encountered. They had nothing to leave Wisdom and his brothers except strong family values that would soon be eroded away and a history that ran deeper than the roots of the red wood trees.

Wisdom was only seventeen and barely a man by the world’s standards yet old enough to procreate when he met and married Anna Mae. She was only fourteen years old just having her menstrual cycle for the second time. They were very young like all others who lived in these parts and had nothing to begin their lives with except each other and the few things left behind by the tribe that belonged to their deceased parents. They stayed in the old home shack for a while and upon leaving , took what they could to make their own dwelling elsewhere. When their families still lived in the area, Wisdom had been taught to speak English by the older tribe officials.

He was very intelligent and would occasionally be used by the elders to interpret to English speaking visitors when he was young. He had a great future but it was cut short by the exodus of the tribe. Even though Wisdom and Anna Mae had not had time to fully mature and really get to know each other before they married, they immediately began bearing children at a very young age which was normal. Bringing new babies into the world was what Wisdom and Anna Mae would begin doing every year after their marriage. Initially, procreation was considered a joy and a blessing to them. They felt it was a spiritual requirement, a beautiful way of life. They enjoyed their intimate time together and treasured the quiet moments they had with one another.

Over time and more children, life would began to beat them into submission and eventually take its toll on them. Stealing both their enjoyment of their sexual intimacy and robbing them of any opportunities to share happy moments with each other again. Life would become hard and marital pleasures would soon be short lived after each baby was born. The thing they so loved about each other at first and the time spent together at night would become a thing of the past as each toddler cried demanding the attention of one or sometimes both their parents. Leaving them exhausted and deprived of everything else they needed for themselves.

Years would quietly slip away like the dew on the ground that they saw each morning as they walked the beaten path down to the pasture to milk the cows. It was their daily ritual to churn milk to make butter that they would sell for that day to care for the growing needs of their family. Soon their sexual desires faded altogether like a thief in the night and became more of a nemesis than a mutual arrangement for them to bond. It became a duty to perform the marital dues and soon even that time would be shunned because of the fear of becoming impregnated once again. On many occasions, Ana Mae would try to avoid having relations with her husband at all cost. Often she would fail miserably when he resorted to forcing his affections on her when he felt the burning urge to relieve himself of the day’s exhaustion. As a dutiful wife, Anna Mae conceded to the sexual encounter to satisfy her husband and soon the inevitable would happen… another baby would be on the way.

Sex became a duty to produce another human to help work the fields that were now getting out of hand and Ana Mae stopped refusing her husband. She reasoned that once she was pregnant, she would have several months of free sex without the fear of becoming pregnant, because she already was with child. It was a pitiful way to reason, but it was the only way she could cope with her new plight in life. After all, they followed in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents. The old house they now occupied was comfortable for them and too small for their growing family. They had dreams like all other young couples.

When their babies slept, they pondered what it would be like living in the big city with all the bright lights and fancy things that city folk had. Their dreams would soon deteriorate away with each new baby that was born as they realized they would never be able to afford living in the city raising their kids. It was becoming more challenging each day to get what they needed on the farm they were working. Over time, they knew they’d never leave the area and stopped dreaming at all . They knew it would never materialize and just focused on raising their children like they raised corn , tall and strong . Things seemed to be going well for many years for them but with the hard winters, getting things they needed was becoming more difficult to provide for so many in their family. Now they had seven children knew they didn’t want any more.

The babies seem to keep coming and child birthing was hindering Anna Mae from being able to help Wisdom and the other children with much of the harvesting of the crops they planted. They still managed, but barely. A year went by and Anna Mae was now pregnant again with her eighth child. Clarissa was born at a time when Wisdom and Anna Mae’s marriage had begun exhibiting some of the same serious problems most marriages experience when there are multiple births and little means to care for the family. Anna Mae named Clarissa after her mother-in-law in hopes that it would soothe her weary husband’s heart as he toiled late into the night to keep them fed and clothed. There was no outside work for the minorities in the area , especially not for the descendants of Native Americans . It was beginning to take increasingly more to provide for their famili es .

Anna Mae took in washing from some of the land owners but it still was not enough. It was beginning to take a toll on Wisdom because he only had one son and the rest were daughters. Naturally, all of them had menstrual cycles at the same time which prevented them from being able to help out in the fields with the mounting work on the farm. Wisdom and his son took care of the majority of the work each year, which was back breaking to say the least. At this point, having so many children didn’t feel like such a blessing, since they had started at such a young age with no support from family. This was snow balling into a very stressful responsibility and adding a dangerous strain on Wisdom and Anna Mae’s relationship.

Daily, the stresses escalated to the point that the couple forgot how to have fun with one another. They only knew hard work and the children always needed something which stole the few private moments they could have had. Soon all that was left were minor intimacies when the children were in school or when Wisdom would take a lunch break from plowing the field to be intimate with his wife.

It seemed that after Clarissa was born, Wisdom and Anna Mae began blaming each another for what they didn’t have. They referenced that maybe they should have left when all the other tribe members left the area pointing the finger at each other, indicating which one of them was responsible for that decision . Sadly, they didn’t realize they both were ultimately responsible for the children they had. Their lives were now taking an ugly turn on them because of what they had chosen to do, even though they loved their family and each other. It was difficult to look at themselves in the proper light with the massive responsibility staring them in the face. No village of people to help raise the children as their parents and grandparents once had. No grandparents to rock the babies at night so they had time for each other. Or, the old mothers of the tribes who used to cook for the families which gave the young mother’s time to bond with their new born. Back then, it looked much easier when their parents were caring for them. Now, the stark reality was that the children had no one else to go to besides them.

They would feel the pain of having no support at all and would began to feel hatred for the white officials who they felt had caused their suffering . Following in the footsteps of their parents was becoming more difficult to accomplish each day as they slowly forgot the old customs and adopted new ones to fit their drastically altered lives. With the turmoil of raising a family, Wisdom talk ed with o lder men that were scattered about at the feed stores and ultimately began to sell moonshine. It was a growing trend in that area and the men explained how much money he could make, even though it was illegal for everyone except Whites.

Since the other men were doing it, he decided to give it a try as well. Living way back in the woods would be a great cover. He could hide his stills and sell the moonshine when he had to. Like everything else, Wisdom knew that with the money from the moonshine, he could buy more things they needed and spend less time in the fields. His baby girl Clarissa was almost a year old now and the alcohol sales were increasing, but with those sales came other distractions. Women… and lots of them. Wisdom would soon be tangled in a web that would destroy him. Selling moonshine would become secondary to his interest in being in the company of other women. He felt a comfort with them that he no longer felt with his own loving wife Anna Mae. The freeness and a lack of responsibility he experienced when the women lay with him , made him feel powerful. They asked for nothing in return and he became like an addict waiting for his next fix .

This behavior was not anything he had been taught by his elders and he would soon forget all the good values and morals he once had. Wisdom was unfaithful to his wife Anna Mae on many occasions. At times he felt remorse, but as soon as the weekend rolled around, remorse left him for his carnal pleasures. All the years Anna Mae had faithfully served her husband and their dreams were now crashing down on them like a tree falling from the aftermath of a terrible storm. Their relationship would tumble many times and come to rest in a quiet place in their hearts, knowing that the rubble from the storm that had swept their marriage away could never be cleaned up again. Shortly after the infidelity with one woman in the town, talk had it that a baby was born to this woman down the road from where Wisdom and Anna Mae lived.

The woman’s name was Tooninee, ( Too-nine-e) and she was only 19 years old and unmarried. She was said to be a prostitute in the town and was one of many that Wisdom had begun keeping company with. It was thought that women who lay down with men and had children by them outside of the sanctity of marriage were considered loose or tainted… but the question was, what made them more loose than the men that lay down with them? Was it because the man didn’t get up from the bed pregnant? Or was it that there was no evidence that he had ever been there at all? Did anyone ever consider that the woman in these situations may have been made to believe that they would be cared for by their lying suitors and they simply trusted the wrong men .

People knew that true prostitutes didn’t allow themselves to get pregnant for their Johns because it would hinder them making money. In the case of Tooninee it may have been just as was mentioned…she trusted all the wrong men. Unlike the other women who did their do and went on their way from the men they visited, Tooninee had tried to hold on to the men she was with, but it always failed for her for some reason. Some said that she had fallen in love with Wisdom, but already had three other children by different men. She was very attractive from a distance, but close up, you could see that life was already taking a hard hold on her from her past years of promiscuity. The child born to her by Wisdom would not be much older than Clarissa who was his youngest child with Anna Mae.

There would only about one yea rs’ differen ce in age between the two girls but they would never grow up together. As the hushed gossip continued in the town, it was confirmed that Wisdom truly was the father of Tooninee’s last child. Doing the math showed that the infidelity was taking place at the same time Anna Mae was pregnant with Clarissa. It was sad, but this was the way it was then and unfortunately , not much would change over the centuries as Clarissa would find out on her own later in life. She would ponder why her parents did what they did, and learn a hard truth about life, love and loyalty. It w ould become an uns poken truth about infidelity in marriages.

If an unmarried woman had a baby by a man that was married, she would say nothing about who the child’s biological father was and keep that baby’s father secret from the people who lived in her town as well as the child itself. Never divulging the identity of the father under any circumstances would be her duty until death. On the other hand, if a married woman who was separated from her husband became pregnant by another married man and her husband made up with her and came back home to her before it could be known that she was pregnant, the woman would then let her husband think the baby she was carrying was his child unless there was some other way that this horrid secret would be let out of the bag before or after the baby was born. If the baby could blend in with the other children they already had and no one could tell whether the child belonged to the couple or not, they fed him or her with the rest of the children and fought silently at night on the weekends until the relationship either ended or one of them fell asleep in death.

The child would eventually grow up and find out the truth on their own because no one would ever admit their wrong doing. The couples took the information of the deceitful conception to their graves. The turmoil of infidelity caused the relationship with Wisdom and Anna Mae to deteriorate over time because Wisdom never stopped being unfaithful. Clarissa being the youngest felt the worse of her parents