Redemption The Story of Bert and His Boys

By John W. Roberts

Well into the twentieth century, slavery cast its long shadow over African American life. The creation of systemic innovations such as sharecropping, the chain gang, and Jim Crow laws provided former enslavers the means to legally restrict and/or deny people of African descent the rewards of freedom. Within the restrictions imposed by the existence of these restraints on black life, Albert "Bert" Williams, a sharecropper living in South Carolina during the early decades of the twentieth century, struggled to carve out a meaningful life for his family. Despite his lack of material success, Bert enjoyed a reputation in his community as a good man. He was respected as a hardworking family man and revered for his efforts to instill in his children values that he believed would lead to their future prosperity in the society.

On a fateful night in1932, however, Bert's three teenage sons committed a criminal act that would change the course of his life. Out of concern for his sons' fate within a racist criminal justice system, Bert acted rashly to protect them from the consequences of their crime. Though performed out of love for his sons, Bert came to accept his behavior on that night as unforgivable for a good man and role model for his sons. Bert vowed to redeem himself even though he knew that his options for doing so after such a senseless act of self-betrayal would be few. But he also knew that they were out there, and he had to pursue them to achieve Redemption.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781684986781

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 John W. Roberts

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-68498-677-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68498-678-1 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Part 1

Revelations and Recriminations of a Good Man

1

Early That Night

Bert had barely fallen asleep when he was awakened by a tapping sound that seemed to be coming from the hallway. He quietly eased himself from beneath the covers, crawled out of bed, and walked briskly across the room, listening for the source of the noise. Just as he reached the bedroom door, the tapping began again. He immediately flung the door open only to see James Earl, his oldest son, standing in the hallway, literally shaking in his boots. Behind him stood Matthew and Frank, his two younger sons, seemingly frozen in wide-eyed fear. Seeing the terror on their faces, Bert quickly stepped into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind him to avoid waking his wife, Laura. The distraught appearance of his teenage sons set off all sorts of parental alarms in his head. So he hurriedly ushered the boys across the hall into their bedroom. Once inside, with the door firmly shut, Bert motioned for them to sit on the bed. As they moved toward the bed, the boys kept their eyes trained on their father as if he might disappear. So they stumbled about and even sat on each other before finding a place on the bed not already occupied by another body.

Bert decided it was best to stand until he found out what was going on. So he stood in the middle of the room with his hand cupping his chin until the boys seemed to be comfortably seated and calm enough to talk.

Now what’s dis about? Bert asked in a calm voice doing his best not to raise the panic level in the room any higher than it already was.

The boys looked at each other, knowing all the time that James Earl would be the spokesman for the group. He was the oldest and the most verbal of the three boys.

Pa, we in trouble, James Earl said quietly, looking from side to side to make sure his father understood that they were all in it together.

Bert knew that things were bad from this opening, but he would wait to see how bad they were before pushing the boys for details. Still trying to contain the panic level in the room, he prompted James Earl to continue talking. What happen dis time? I wanna know da whole story, Bert said, finding it difficult not to raise his voice.

We robbed Cunningham’s Dry Good Store a little while ago, James Earl said, raising his head to look his father in the eyes.

Y’all did what? Bert exclaimed, lifting his arms above his head. He then dropped them quickly, trying to tamper down his reaction to a story for which he did not yet have details. Still, he was beginning to feel his panic level rising along with the desire to raise his voice. Bert started to walk in circles around the small room to calm himself, suppressing the urge to scream at his sons. All the while, the boys sat silently on the bed but no longer looked directly at their father. Suddenly, Bert stopped pacing and, with an exaggerated motion, reached into a corner and pulled out the only chair in the room. He then carefully placed it on the floor with the back facing the boys, who continued to sit on the bed. Facing the back of the chair himself and gripping it with both hands, Bert moved his hips forward, then slowly eased himself down onto the seat. He then began to speak again very softly, trying very hard not to reveal, through his choice of words or tone of voice, just how alarmed he was by his son’s revelation.

Okay! he said. Let’s just stay calm, and y’all tell me ’xactly what happened.

We took a bunch of clothes and stuff from dat sto’. They piled up right out there in da wagon, James Earl responded while pointing toward the front of the house. He then moved toward the window as if inviting Bert to view the evidence for himself. Bert apparently had no interest in playing show-and-tell with his son right then, so he motioned for him to sit back down.

Why y’all do something like dat? Bert questioned quietly with a look of total incomprehension on his face.

Well, we wanna get back at old man Cunningham for when he run us out of his sto’, James Earl blurted out breathlessly.

Speaking of Mr. Cunningham, what y’all doin’ in his sto’ tonight anyway? Didn’t y’all tell me you goin’ to see yo sick grandma? Bert asked with a confused look on his face.

Oh, we jus’ make up dat stuff ’bout grandma being sick, James Earl said.

Okay, so y’all jus’ out and out lied to me to git my mule and wagon, Bert said sarcastically. Alright, now tell me what y’all tryin’ to git back at old man Cunningham fo’, Bert said, gripping the back of his chair as he tried to steer the conversation back to the subject of the robbery.

Well, we was in dat sto’ da otha week, and we wasn’t doing nothing but looking at clothes and stuff. We was havin’ fun speculating on what we would buy if we had a whole lot a money. Then Mr. Cunningham come running over to us and axed us what we doing. When we say we jus’ lookin’, he got mad and say as loud as he could that ‘I want you niggers to get out my sto’. How dare you put yo black hands on my merchandise!’ We didn’t like what he say to us, but we sta’ted to leave. Dat’s when he hauled off and kicked Frank dead in his behind with his foot. Then we hear some white chil’ren on the other side sta’t laughing and pointin’ at us. We don’t care ’bout dem ’cause we tryin’ to git outa dat sto’ and away from da old fool. But old man Cunningham follow us straight to da do’. Den we got to da do’, dat’s when he haul off and tried to shove Frank out into da street. He coulda hurt our brother real bad if he fall or somethin’, James Earl finished telling his story with a fresh look of anger on his face.

Dat’s all what happened? Bert asked while raising his hands above his head as if to say, big deal.

Dat’s all! We have ever’ right to git mad at old man Cunningham, Pa. Yo give dat cracker a lot of yo’ money, and he treat us like dat jus’ ’cause we colored! James Earl exclaimed, giving his father a look of total disbelief. He could not understand why his father did not grasp the level of humiliation that they felt on that day. He ain’t got no right to put his hands on us like that, Pa. It 1932, but he actin’ like it still slavery time, kicking a colored man in da behind jus’ cause he can, and tryin’ to th’ow him out like he da trash. Old man Cunningham jus’ sho’ing out for dem white chil’ren in that sto’. I bet he wouldn’t put his hands on one of dem no matter what dey did, James Earl added.

Bert sat still, trying not to show any emotion as James Earl defended his and his brothers’ right to be outraged by what Mr. Cunningham did. Bert’s reaction did not mean that he did not share their point of view. He did not want to give his sons the impression that he approved of how they responded to the situation. Even though he disagreed with their handling of things, Bert was more sympathetic to James Earl’s spin on what happened on that day than he was to his narrative of the event itself. In fact, he found himself wanting to hear the rest of the story.

So how did things go f’om gittin’ run out of dat man’s sto’ to robbin’ it? Bert asked.

Well, when we finally got outside, James Earl continued, a bit more composed at this point. Frank so mad he ’bout to th’ow a rock th’ough dat sto’ window. He already got a big rock in his hand and had set hisself to th’ow it and then run like a bat outa hell, but me and Matthew catch his hand and stop ’im. We say no, he can’t do dat, ’cause it would jus’ bring the law down on us. Wit’ what jus’ happen in dat sto’, dey know right off da we th’owed da rocks, so dey jus’ take us straight off to jail. So we make Frank drop dat rock right on da ground. Dat’s when Matthew say that it be better if we jus’ jump ole man Cunningham in the dark when he leaving dat store one night and beat the snot out of ’im. Then I tell them that he a old man and it’d be easy to hurt ’im real bad or even kill ’im. So Frank and Matthew agree with me dat we can’t do dat. ’Sides, if we beat ’im and don’t kill ’em, we go to jail den anyway ’cause he know who we is. We just wanna git back at ’im for callin’ us ‘niggers’ and treatin’ our brother like trash in front of dose white people. So we decide to think on how we gonna get back at ’im without gittin’ in trouble with the law. James Earl paused in the telling of his story at this point. He glanced over at his father to see if he could tell how he was taking all of this. He could see impatience written all over his father’s face.

His observation was confirmed when Bert abruptly stood up and resumed his pacing. After a few turns around the room, Bert spoke again, trying not to show his disgust at the length his boys went to avenge an insult.

Let me hear da rest, he said to James Earl as he sat back down in his chair, assuming the same position as before.

Well, I think on it fo’ a day or so and come up with a idea. I ax Matthew and Frank dis question: ‘Why do Mr. Cunningham have dat sto’?’ Dey say da same thing just about at da same time, ‘to make money!’ ’xactly, I say. Then I tell dem that my idea is dat we ought a hit old man Cunningham where it’d hurt da most. We’d make it so he can’t make no money. Dat’s when we decide to rob his sto’. If he ain’t got no dry goods, he can’t make no money!

At this point, Bert spoke up with a burning question that he just had to ask his sons. Didn’t neither one of y’all think that ya was goin’ too far over hurt feelin’s? He paused but did not get a response, so he continued. You know dat robbin’ a store is stealin’ and dat stealin’ is ag’in the law, and y’all could lose ya freedom fo’ a long time for something as big as robbin’ a dry good sto’. Besides dat, old man Cunningham in dat sto’ practically all the time! Some folks say he liv’ in there.

Yes, sir! We kinda figa dat out. Afta we decide what we gonna do, we sta’t takin’ turns watching him eva’ night since dat’s the only time we got to pull anything off anyway like what we got in mind. We be in the fields eva day, so we don’ care what he do den. James Earl spoke up quickly, continuing to ignore Bert’s questions in favor of responding to his statement. We know he in dat sto’ late every night except Wednesday night. Dat’s prayer meetin’ night at Mount Calvary Church. Old man Cunningham is the sexton at dat church. So he close his sto’ early eva Wednesday to go git eva’thing ready for da prayer meetin’. Then he stay for the service ’cause he gotta close up. So we know if he come back to the sto’ on Wednesday night, it gonna be late.

Since y’all had everything so well planned out, and ya got da goods, what go wrong? Bert asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

We think somebody seen us coming out of da sto’ with the stuff, James Earl confessed.

What? Bert said, jumping up from his chair again. At that point, he realized that they had reached a point of no return.

We not sho’ ’bout it! James Earl quickly retorted, rising from the bed himself, trying to calm his father down. But we seen a white man passin’ by just as we ’bout finish loadin’ da wagon. When I looked his way, he actin’ like he didn’t see us, but I think he just pretendin’. We scared he gonna go straight to da law. So we come back here ’cause we don’ know what else to do.

What on earth was you boys plannin’ to do with dat stuff anyway?

Keep it, Frank quipped without hesitation.

Realizing how that would sound to their father, James Earl and Matthew cut their eyes at Frank to let him know to keep his mouth closed. Then, the boys turned to look at their father, who had the look of exasperation on his face that they expected to see.

What? asked Bert. Keep ’em and do what wi’ ’em?

We gonna wear dem, except for the things dat we got fo’ you, Ma Laura, and Tilly, said Frank, who had apparently not yet learned his lesson about opening his mouth.

Before Bert responded to Frank, James Earl jumped in, realizing that he needed to provide an explanation to his father to clarify his brother’s comment.

Pa, it like dis. When we break in, we plan on just grabbin’ whateva’ we could git on dat wagon. Lata’, we thought we may try to sell it to people around town who won’t care where it come from. Then, we see so much stuff dat we don’t know what to take. We know we can’t take ever’thing, so we decide to just take stuff fo’ ourselves. We the ones that old man Cunningham done wrong. Den Matthew say dat we out ta get some stuff fo’ y’all too. We all got a right to look good fo’ a change. So we look fo’ stuff we thought y’all might like. Then we just pick up a few stray things layin’ around jus’ ’cause we got room on da wagon, and we might be able to get a few dollars sellin’ ’em to otha folks. But we mostly got stuff fo’ our family.

Bert stood looking at his boys for a few seconds. He could see that they were somewhat proud of the selflessness that they had shown when they decided to include the whole family in their crime. Bert was almost speechless with anger at this point. He was appalled that his boys would envision robbery as an appropriate response to an insult by an ornery old white man. What bothered him the most was that they seemed so causal about what they had done. Bert wondered if they would have had any kind of emotional response to their crime if they had not been seen committing the act. So when he could speak again without yelling, he tried to interject a sense of sanity into a situation that struck him as being utterly insane.

So y’all didn’t just rob da man’s store, y’all went on a shopping spree. May I ax where y’all planning to wear all ya new stolen clothes? And why on earth would you think dat me and Laura’d wear stolen clothes or put ’em on yo baby sister? Did you boys think at all before ya decided that robbin’ da man’s sto’ was da bes’ way to git back at Mr. Cunningham for embarrassing ya in front of some white chil’ren? And for God’s sake, didn’t y’all think dat ya might jus’ git caught?

The brothers looked at each other as if they had just been asked for the exact time, day, and year of the next solar eclipse. James Earl looked at his father and just shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he had no idea how to respond to his questions. Frank fell back on the bed in complete frustration. He could not believe they had not thought about these issues before now. Matthew just yawned and stared blankly at his father. His I don’t care attitude was what frightened Bert the most about him. It not only made him seem unfeeling at times but also cruel.

I see what you sayin’ now, Pa. But we ain’t thought about none of dat when we was doin’ it. We jus’ thought about gettin’ back at old man Cunningham and havin’ a few nice things to put on. Now dat we might git caught, we don’ know what to do. Dat’s why we come to you, James Earl said, almost in tears.

If Bert was not so angry and disappointed at the boys, he could almost feel sorry for them. However, he realized that this was not a time for emotions or recriminations. Their most immediate need was to figure out what to do about the stolen merchandise. So Bert began pacing the floor frantically, thinking of how best to handle this situation. He knew for sure that the boys had gone too far this time. His first thought was to have them go to the law themselves and confess to what they had done. Then he would ask Mr. Toby, the man with whom he sharecropped, to intervene with the sheriff. Perhaps Mr. Toby could use his influence to get the boys off in exchange for simply returning the merchandise to Mr. Cunningham. The more he thought about this idea, the less faith he had that it would work. While Mr. Toby had stuck his neck out for the boys before, he had done so to erase the consequences of relatively minor infractions of the law. Robbing a dry goods store was not a minor infraction; it was a major crime that the law would not ignore. He also doubted that Mr. Toby would risk his reputation in the community to free three colored boys who had already been picked up several times for violating the law.

The more he thought about it, the more convinced Bert became that it was not a good idea for Mr. Toby to know anything about the boys’ robbing of Mr. Cunningham’s store. Sharecropping was a tenuous relationship for men like him. He could not be sure that the man would keep him on as a tenant if he knew that his boys had committed a crime with this level of seriousness. What was there to keep them from robbing Mr. Toby, especially if he angered them in any way. In dealing with his landlord, Bert also had to think about the rest of his family. What would he do if Mr. Toby decided to kick him off his place for something thoughtless that his sons had done? Where would he go? What about Laura and Tilly? So Bert quickly dismissed the idea of turning to Mr. Toby for assistance.

He considered for a brief time taking his case directly to Mr. Cunningham. Bert had done business with the merchant for many years. He realized, however, that being a customer was not a basis for making an appeal for special consideration from the victim of a robbery. Bert had always believed Mr. Cunningham to be a decent man. Still, if he treated the boys as they described his behavior to him tonight, he could no longer trust his previous assessment of the man’s character. Besides, he could not think of a good reason why Mr. Cunningham would be interested in handling this situation outside of the law. As a prominent merchant in Dillard, he was reasonably sure that Mr. Cunningham would want to see the perpetrators punished as an example to other would-be robbers. He could not imagine that he would wish to have the word get out that he allowed men who robbed his store to go free for any kind of consideration. This would be especially true of three young black men whom he had forcefully removed from his establishment only a few weeks ago. What kind of message would that send to other coloreds about what they could get away with in Dillard?

Then there was the issue of the eyewitness that Bert had to consider. Although the boys could not be sure that they were seen robbing the story, he believed it was best that they acted as if there was an eyewitness who had reported what he saw or would eventually do so. Bert knew that three black boys accused of robbing a dry good store with a white man as an eyewitness would receive a swift conviction in any courtroom in the state of South Carolina. With a felony conviction for grand theft, he could only assume that James Earl and Matthew, at their ages, would have to serve time, most likely on the chain gang. Frank, being a minor, would more likely than not be sent to reform school, or maybe Mr. Toby could make some sort of work-release deal for him that would allow him to live at home. Bert knew it was wise for him to consider possible consequences for the boys’ actions if they were caught and convicted. However, he had already decided that none of these things would happen to his boys if he had anything to say about it. Although they put themselves in this situation, he could not accept that they should lose their futures for simply being young and dumb. Therefore, saving them from themselves from now on would be his priority.

Suddenly, Bert stopped pacing and turned to the boys with a glint in his eyes. In a seemingly agitated state, he spoke in his most commanding voice.

Here’s what I want y’all to do. I want ya boys to go to bed right now and git a good night’s sleep. Ya gonna hafta be up early in the morning, Bert said as he started toward the door.

But Pa, what we s’posed to do with all dat stuff out there in da wagon? We can’t just leave it where it is. The law may be looking for us already. James Earl’s eyes bulged in his head as he questioned his father.

Don’t y’all worry ’bout dat. Jus’ leave it to me, Bert said. I’m gonna take care of eva’thing. No matter what happen. Don’t talk to nobody ’bout what y’all did tonight. Ya say y’all been in yo bed sleep since nine o’clock. Just let me handle it.

With that said, Bert walked out of the room, leaving the boys in a state of confusion. They stood around for a few minutes, not sure what, if anything, they should say or do besides go to bed as their father had commanded. After blankly staring at each other for a few minutes without saying a word, they began preparing for bed. Even though their freedom was on the line, they had to have faith that their father knew what he was doing.

Within a few minutes after leaving his boys, Bert had dressed in his work clothes and mounted the wagon filled with the stolen dry goods. He looked back briefly to survey the pile of merchandise that the boys had loaded onto the wagon earlier. It was late, and he knew he did not have much time. So he grabbed the reins and tapped Minnie the mule on her hindquarters to get her moving toward the woodshed, where he retrieved a shovel. Then he headed toward the field where they had spent the day plowing in preparation for planting in the next few days. As he and Minnie neared the area, he marveled at how much of the field they had cultivated in one day. No wonder his muscles were so sore, and he had aches and pains in places that he did not know he had places. After admiring the results of their day’s work for a few seconds, Bert continued steering Minnie to the center of the plowed field, where he halted the wagon and climbed down to the ground. He then grabbed the shovel from the wagon. He dug furiously into the ground, already made soft by the plowing earlier in the day. After digging for what he estimated to be about a little over half an hour, he had created a crater several feet deep and maybe five or six feet wide. He immediately began transferring the dry goods from the wagon into the hole. When he completed the transfer, he started refilling the hole with dirt. Thankfully, the refilling process was considerably easier than the digging.

When he finished filling the hole, he unhitched Minnie from the wagon and led her to the edge of the field, where he hitched her to a plow that they had left there when they ended their day’s work. Losing no time, he quickly maneuvered Minnie, now pulling the plow, back to the burial site of the stolen merchandise. With Bert and Minnie in complete work mode, they moved quickly, running the plow over the spot where the dry goods were interred, blending the old and new furrows perfectly. Only a trained eye would have suspected that this plot of ground was different from the rest of the field. Bert then hitched Minnie to the wagon and headed home with his task completed. By the time he reached the stables, he felt the exhaustion from his most recent task and the hard work he had put in earlier in the day. After turning Minnie loose in the pasture, he headed for his house, where he looked forward to falling into bed.

As he made his way up to the house from the stables, Bert struggled to put one foot before the other. He was doing his best to suppress his feelings about what he had just done. However, he was finding it difficult to push aside thoughts about something so out of character for the person he considered himself to be. His most immediate reaction was disbelief that he had just made himself an accomplice to a senseless crime. However, he did not want to think about anything that happened earlier tonight. After a good night’s sleep, he would be better prepared to deal with the consequences of both what he had done and determine how he would save his boys from the consequences of their actions.

2

Later That Night

Just as Bert was about to crawl into bed for the second time this night, he heard banging followed by a loud voice, demanding that he open the front door. He was so startled by the sudden commotion that he momentarily froze in place. Almost instinctively, he looked down at Laura, who thankfully continued to sleep peacefully. The last thing he wanted was to awaken her, especially after she had worked so hard all day. To make sure that he did not disturb her sleep, Bert gently let go of the covers that he had continued to hold tightly in his hand. Then he felt about in the dark with his feet until he located his slippers that sat just under the edge of the bed. He quickly eased his feet into them and made a mad dash for the front door. Along the way, he managed to rescue his old wool robe from the nail on