161 Corps of Black Hunters or Black Rangers.
162 “Pe Caesar de?”
163 “Wakti. Kon nanga mi.”
164 An open shelter with a roof of leaves.
165 Here, mould or mildew (more commonly, ‘book’).
166 The pint as used in Amsterdam at that time in the 18th century, equal to 0.5 litre.
167 “Den bakra denki taki nengre don. We kon un si suma don!”
168 “Ayi, kon un si suma don.”
169 “Mi no sabi.”
170 “No wan sma no sabi, no wan sma no si Caesar moro, un no sabi efu na dede Caesar dede, ma nowan sma no si na dede skin fu Caesar. No wan sma no si efu a go na businengre sei, no wan sma no si. Sinsi un doro kan na Buku no wan sma no si Caesar moro.”
CHAPTER X
SARITH
Sarith travelled with her husband and child to their home, Klein Paradijs, firmly resolved to persuade Julius to buy a house in town. That was nothing exceptional: so many plantation owners had a handsome mansion in town. She was extremely nice to Julius once they were back on the plantation, but oh how bored she became. It was one of the two rainy seasons. Heavy rain, everything wet and dreary, and no-one for any sociability. She herself had nothing to occupy her, for Mini-mini was taking care of the baby and Kwasiba saw to everything else in the household. Sarith rarely bothered about her baby. Now and then she saw him when he was lying on Mini-mini’s lap or if Mini-mini was walking on the veranda with the baby in her arms. Julius did pay a lot of attention to his son. He did, of course, notice that Sarith had little interest in the child.
Then everyone became alarmed at the news that the Maroons had overrun a military post. Lieutenant Leppert, head of the military post at Patamacca, went out on a sortie because an escapees’ camp had been discovered in that area. With about thirty soldiers he went into the bush. The Alukus lay in wait for him near a swamp through which the soldiers would have to pass. When the soldiers were up to their shoulders in the swamp they were fired upon. Leppert and ten soldiers were killed. The other twenty fled. Most of them got lost in the bush and only two returned.
After that, yet another plantation was raided, and this one was hardly an hour’s journey from Klein Paradijs. Sarith began to put pressure on Julius to please buy a house in the town. They were not at all safe at Klein Paradijs. But Julius refused. Klein Paradijs was his home. He would not buy a house in the town. The Bonis would certainly not raid their plantation. Then rent a house for a while, asked Sarith. That he also did not want to do. And Sarith could insist, weep, stamp and shout “I want, I want” as much as she liked, Julius stood firm. He would not rent or buy a house in the town. His son would grow up on Klein Paradijs and not in Paramaribo.
Sarith tried the tack that it was necessary for his daughters, Miriam and Hannah. If they had a house in town the girls could live with her rather than at their aunt’s. Julius replied that that certainly wasn’t necessary. His daughters had become a part of their aunt’s family to such an extent that they probably would not want to live with Sarith. Furthermore, they would soon be thinking of marriage. For those two it was certainly not needed.
Now Sarith began accusing him of thinking only of himself. He didn’t take her into consideration and not even his own son. When Julius replied that he really wanted his son to become an excellent planter and therefore wanted him to grow up on the plantation, Sarith said that he was thinking of himself so much that it did not matter to him that he was exposing her to the risk of getting murdered.
“Well,” said Julius, “If you’re so scared, or if you’re getting bored, feel free to go to the town for a few weeks. But no messing with the child: he stays here.”
Sarith prepared to leave. Julius would send Benny along to ensure that she arrived safely. He heard her telling Mini-mini to look after everything well, and then said that Mini-mini was certainly not going as well.
Julius had realized for a long time now that it was Mini-mini who was bringing up the child. She fed him, washed him, rocked him to sleep. Hour after hour she would sit with him on her lap if he was crying, because, for instance, he was cutting his first teeth, and she was also the person towards whom he reached out as soon as he saw her.
“Mini-mini stays here. She has to care for Jethro,” said Julius to his wife.
Surprised, Sarith asked how she would manage in the town without Mini-mini. Julius said that she could take another slave with her – Kwasiba, for example, thinking along the lines that Kwasiba was Sarith’s own slave and therefore familiar to her.
But Sarith did not want Kwasiba. She was afraid of Kwasiba’s sharp, all-seeing eyes. Kwasiba had cared for her since she was little and therefore felt that she had the right to grumble at her mistress if she saw something that, in her eyes, was not right. No, Sarith could most certainly do without someone looking over her shoulder all the time. She did not say this to Julius, but remarked that Kwasiba was getting old and was not all that good with stairs any more. Sarith’s room at Esther’s was on the top floor.