By Hamza Hayee
When I died (Emily Grierson) many men and women came to attend my funeral. Women were inquisitiveness to see the inside of my house. My house was gigantic and had balconies and cupolas. My house was in-between cotton wagons and petrol stations.
When I was alive I was in care of Colonel Sartoris the mayor of my city. He ordered that no Negro woman appear on roads without apron. He eradicated all taxes on me and I accepted that because my father invested some money in the town.
New mayor with advanced ideas summoned me for the taxes, but I didn’t reply. Later on mayor himself wrote me a letter and offered me to send a car this time I replied in a antique way but I didn’t go on his call.
Mayor called a meeting on my issue, a he sent a delegation for me. No had been coming to my house since I left giving classes of China-Painting. My old Negro maid welcomed them. She took them to a ridiculous hall, where they say my father’s portrait that was drawn with crayons.
I was fat, black, billowed walking feebly, I stared them and didn’t asked them to sit in spite of all things, and they started their inquiry. They noticed the ticking of my watch. I spoke with lukewarm voice I said “I have no taxes, Colonel Sartoris told me”
“We are city authorities”
I repeated what I said earlier
“I have no taxes in Jefferson”
And I asked my loyalist Tobe to show them record and letter given by Colonel Sartoris.
I conquered them as I conquered my father’s body. It was after the 2 years of my father’s death and beau who cheated on me. I limited my out goings. People complained mayor that a strange smell is coming from my house. No young man was interested in me, it was due to that I wasn’t beautiful.
When my father died, he only left a house for me. People were sorrow for that I was left alone. I met the ladies who came for my father’s solace with cold face, and I did this for 3 days as per rituals. I was reluctant to bury my father but authorities did so.
I became sick and cut down my hair pretending like a young girl, in concurrence with church’s angels. After death of my father, construction of sidewalks began with mules and all related machinery. Homer Barron came as a foreman to my town. He was a man of small eyes, with a loud voice. We began to meet on yellow buggy and people looked at us suspiciously.
People thought to call my cousins, who live in Alabama, but my father fought with Wyatt my aunt, so we both families were disconnected. All people began to say me “Poor Emily”.
I bought rat poison “arsenic” from druggist, I was over thirty then.
Druggist and I had following conversation:
“What kind of arsenic Maam”
“The best you have” I said.
Druggist looked at me and gave me arsenic and said
“That is what you want” I stared at him and replied “Yes”.
When I came back it was clearly written on it that “for rats”.
People were assuming that I would kill myself and also assumed that I would merry Homer, and then they thought I wouldn’t because Homer was gay. People wanted to rid of Homer but he refused to go back. Then Minister’s wife wrote a letter to my relative residing Alabama.
My relatives came again and people assumed we were getting married. I went to jeweler and ordered toilet set in silver with letters H and B written on it, but Homer ran away, again speculations by the people. But he came back after 3 days.
We met and nobody saw us after that for 6 months. My hair grew grey up to 74 of my age.
I shifted to studio room in which I used to give class to the daughters and granddaughters of Colonel Sartoris, they came with the spirit as they were going to church. Newer generations didn’t send their children to me, and I refused to get postal service number given by the city.
I got several tax notices I did reply to every notice after a week. I was sick and people even didn’t know that I was sick and I died in my dusty and filthy house in its down stair room. When I died A Negro received people and ladies and then he disappeared and never came back. My two cousins came and arranged my funeral and bier in the lawn. A room of my house was unopened for 40 years after my death people opened that room it was decorated as if it was for wedding. Room had toilet things of silver which were tarnished. There was a corpse in the room. That was Homer and it was his remains that were fleshless and was in night suite, and people noticed grey hair near it.
Hamza Writes 