Day of Tears

Emma feels sick on the coach ride to the auction barn and her hand hurts from Sarah squeezing it so desperately. She sees how tightly the white men, dressed finely and smiling, pack the slaves into the horse stalls. Sarah is annoyed that everyone is acting like this is a party, especially Frances. Pierce talks with another plantation owner, who congratulates him on how well he treats his slaves. Other slave buyers discuss how Pierce’s misfortune is his own fault. A buyer looks over one of the slaves, putting on gloves to look inside his mouth. Unnamed slaves talk amongst one another about how mean one owner looks versus another one. One slave, Bob, calls over one of the buyers, showing his muscles and introducing the buyer to his wife. The buyer says they’ll fit in well, although Bob’s wife, Mary, doesn’t like the way the buyer was looking at her. Bob tells her everything will be fine. The slave-seller tries to get Mrs. Henfield to buy Emma, saying that she’ll need to make it worth Pierce’s while. Emma thinks about Aunt Hagar’s feisty spirit and Jose, the boy who is sweet on her, who she’s never really spoken with and believes she’ll never get to know now that he’s sold.