Someone Knows My Name

After Appleby’s attack, Georgia gives Aminata an herbal birth control. When Aminata worries about Chekura, Georgia tells her that men don’t need to know everything. After the attack, Aminata never leaves Georgia’s side. Two years pass on the plantation, and Aminata searches for ways to return to Africa. She enjoys reading as an escape. To no avail, she searches Mamed’s books for an answer on how to return to Africa. Aminata becomes pregnant with Chekura’s child and is thrilled, “bursting with pride and purpose” that this baby “had come not from a buckra but from a man of my choosing: an African who knew where I came from and spoke my language” (165). Georgia tells Aminata to nurse until her milk runs dry so Appleby doesn’t take her baby, reminding her that Appleby owns her and everything she makes.

One afternoon while Aminata is stirring indigo, Appleby arrives with two buckra guests: Solomon Lindo, the Jewish indigo inspector of South Carolina, and William King, who runs the slave trade in Charles Town. Lindo asks Aminata about the beating process and is impressed with her intelligence. In the house Appleby shows off Aminata’s skills to the men, bragging that he could sell her for a profit.