The Kitchen House Quotes
"I did not understand that the trauma of loss had taken my memory."
"Hopeful, I stared up at the enormous house in front of me."
"A woman’s call! Hopeful, I stared up at the enormous house in front of me."
"I began to cry and reached back up for him, but he pushed me instead toward the old Negro male who was hurrying toward us."
""Jacob, take her," the man said. "Give her to Belle. She’s hers for the kitchen.""
""James, why didn’t you send word?" the woman sang out into the morning mist."
""Mrs. Pyke. Prepare yourself," he shouted, and bounded over the threshold."
"I was terror-stricken to discover that I did not know where I was, nor could I recall my name."
""I warn you, wife. I’ve come home for you. Best come down before I come up.""
""Oh no, James. You stay away until you’ve been washed.""
""What you fightin’ me for?" he asked. I was exhausted by it all and dropped my head on the man’s thin shoulder."
""What’s that man thinking? Can’t he see she’s white?" The woman sank in front of me and turned me around."
""You been sick?" She wrinkled her nose. "I’ve got to burn these clothes. You nothing but bones."
"I was more lost than ever, for I felt no connection to that name."
""Well, well, well. Lil Abinya wake up," he said."
""That’s enough, son," the captain said, waving me forward."
""Are you helping in the kitchen?" he asked. "Yes, ma’am," I croaked, anxious to follow Belle’s instruction."
"The captain chuckled. "Do I look like a ‘ma’am’ to you?""
""Why the man needin’ to lock the door when he teachin’ the young masta about the books?"
""Well, I think I pick Dory," Papa continued to tease. He went to her and placed his arm around her shoulders."
"I couldn’t quite believe his miniature features, and when his eyes opened, they focused on me."
"A baby don’t need you cryin’ when you feeds him."
"Mama’s relief was evident when the doctor’s carriage arrived."
"I knew the oak tree with the hanging swing waited there, and I didn’t want to see it."
"Sally Pyke, Beloved Daughter of James and Martha Pyke."
"If he put that fear into himself, nothing makes him happy."
"I felt I could not leave fast enough, but Miss Martha gripped my hand."
"I don’t know why he took it upon himself to put that little girl on the swing and push her like that."
"You got to do this, Belle. You gonna be free."
"He gonna work with Rankin, but he mostly here if we needin’ him up at the big house."
"I understand that you are a great help to my mother."
"If you could just sit with him, I might sleep for an hour."
"It’s all right, Belle, it’s over. Your skirts were on fire, and we put it out. It’s all right."
"I believe that initial visit was toward the end of October, my first year in Williamsburg, for I recall how Meg and I remarked on the red and yellow of the autumn leaves."
"Meg, as I had hoped, was not bound by restriction and saw the excursion as an adventure."
"You must know I care for you. I want you to come with me, Lavinia. I want to marry you."
"When the captain arrives, Isabelle, we will leave for home."
"Marshall playfully snatched her spectacles and perched them on the edge of his own nose."
"I knew to excuse myself as Mr. Madden waited to settle himself in a chair."
"I’m home, I whispered, hugging myself. I’m home."
"You are never to buy gifts for the servants without my approval."
"You know better! You knew how hard tobacco was on the soil!"
"We say, ‘Lawd, we don’t know, but we sure do need some help.’"
"You don’t forget to say thanks for the blessin’s, Lawd."
"Don’t you ever speak over me again, Lavinia."
"I’m afraid the responsibility rests with your husband."
"But why don’t she go away? She free, not like us."
"Try to elevate yourself to your new station!"
"You don’t know how I have looked forward to your visit."
"I wonder if Miss Abinia too old to learn to ride."
"I don’t know, but I think your husband’s gonna want to know about this."
"I’m afraid that you are too thin. Much too thin."
"He gets with her almost every night, and he talkin’ to her."
"First, Ida gives me something so I don’t get caught with no baby."
"I do not think that Marshall would allow you to leave."
"You know if Rankin find him, Papa in big trouble."
"Then you sleep all day, or else you cry and tell me to go away."