Dear Diary,
Not much time to write. Money’s getting tighter, though. Momma says Dusty’s going to have to get a job soon, and maybe Mrs Hawkins needs another maid. Dusty says she’d rather die first, and she’ll find some other way.
I’m worried.
Dear Diary,
Being a servant ain’t all that bad. It’s just like doing chores at home – I sweep, and beat carpets, and do laundry, and all. Sometimes I bring Mrs Hawkins some tea, and the cook sometimes lets me take the leftovers home for Momma.
Momma hates having me be away all day. And it’s kind of tough, having to spend all day cleaning up Mrs Hawkins house and then coming home to take care of ours. But Momma still ain’t doing too well, so she’s not strong enough to do the chores herself. And she and Dusty are still mad at each other, so Dusty isn’t staying home to help out much.
Anyway, what with the food that I’m taking home and the money I get for my job, I figure we’ll be okay. Momma doesn’t seem too sure, though – I came home today and she was crying and cursing Daddy for not taking care of us all. There wasn’t anything I could do, so I’m just sitting out here now writing this diary.
Dear Diary,
Money is getting real tight now. Daddy seems to have owed money to everybody, and they all want it back. Momma went to Mr Hawkins to ask for help – she said that if Mr Hawkins liked Daddy so much, he should help his poor widow and orphans. Mr Hawkins said he’d talk to the people who want all our money, and he said that he figured his wife could use a new servant in her house.
Momma told Dusty that she’d have to do it, because Momma needed me at home to take care of her. They had a big fight over that, and Dusty stormed out and said that she wasn’t going to be nobody’s servant. So I had to go over there, and I guess I’ll be helping do Mrs Hawkins’s chores and stuff.
Dear Diary,
I haven’t had a chance to write much lately. Daddy died last Martis, and we held the funeral yesterday. I miss him something terrible. He’d always bring me a candy or something pretty, and tell me a joke whenever he came home. I never liked it much when he fought with Momma, but he sure was nice to me.
Momma has taken to her bed. She didn’t even come to the funeral, though pretty much everyone else did. Mr Hawkins came up to me and said how Daddy was one of his best hands, and how everyone liked him so much. They was really going to miss him.
I’m worried about Dusty. I don’t think she’s even cried at all. She just says that it’s grand how Daddy was trying to jump that big fence when he fell off and got hurt, and that’s how she’d want to go. But I know she’s really sad inside – she goes out early every day, and comes home late, and I don’t hardly see her much at all.
Anyway, she says that Momma needs to just shut up and stop crying so much and get a job or something. I don’t know what kind of job Momma can do, but I guess someone is going to have to make some money. I don’t know how we’re going to eat – Daddy didn’t leave much, and what little was saved for my dowry won’t last long. I guess that means I’ll never get married, but it’s more important that Momma has money to eat and all.