August 15th, 1832

Magic, it’s been on my life since I can remember. I always thought magic was bad but my mama always tells us, “Magic is a reflection of the person who uses it.” I unlike my brother try to stay away from it, something about is just unsettling.  Everyone on the plantation slaves and masters are all found of my mama they think she is a miracle worker, every one says she is the reason that the Humphrey plantation is successful. Master Humphrey has the most successful plantation in Texas maybe in the entire south.  I mainly attend to the house chores and occasionally in the field, I have been in that house since I can remember I became friends with the masters daughter Angelica.

The two of us essentially grew up together, she doesn’t  see me as a slave or as property she sees me as a human being I am treated as her equal. Misses Humphrey was the one who taught me how to read and write when I was four she’s always kind to me it was painful when she passed away. “I will never deny knowledge from anyone doesn’t matter what color they are.” That was when the plantation started flourishing from cotton to tobacco where have been a staple for the past 5 years.

I had an earlier start then usual this morning, while I was getting ready there was a tap coming from the corner of the shack I figured it was someone else getting up early too. I thought nothing of it and continued getting ready the tapping kept growing louder and louder until I got to my mothers book. There was one rule no one touched my mothers magic book, I walked over to it and it lifted off of the ground and opened. Writings from my mother incantations far as the eye as the eyes can see.  “What are you doing????!!!!!” my mama exclaimed jumping out of her bed. “The book there was a tapping I walked over to it and it opened by itself. I promise I didn’t touch it.” She looked worried, “just get ready to go out in the field Nathaniel, none of this ever happened.” I have never seen a genuine look of fear in my mother’s eyes, I felt like the book was watching me, my mother took the book and put it under this spare space under her bed. What was in that book that scared my mother? Regardless of that I tried to forget about it and move about my day.