The Hopes and Dreams SeriesAfrican-Americans

Nobody A story based on history

Second Edition

Tana ReiffIllustrations by Tyler Stiene

PRO LINGUA ASSOCIATES

Knows

Pro Lingua Associates, Publishers

P.O. Box 1348 Brattleboro, Vermont 05302-1348 USA Office:8022577779 Orders:8003664775 E-mail:orders@ProLinguaAssociates.com SAN:216-0579 Webstore:www.ProLinguaAssociates.com

Copyright©2015byTanaReiff

TextISBN13:978-0-86647-386-6;10:0-86647-386-6AudioCDISBN13:978-0-86647-387-3;10:0-86647-387-4

ThefirsteditionofthisbookwasoriginallypublishedbyFearonEducation,adivisionofDavidS.LakePublishers,Belmont,California,Copyright©1989,laterbyPearsonEducation.This,thesecondedition,hasbeenrevisedandredesigned.

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orother,orstoredinaninformationstorageorretrievalsystemwithoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.

ThecoverandillustrationsarebyTylerStiene.ThebookwassetanddesignedbyTanaReiff,consultingwithA.A.Burrows,usingtheAdobeCentury Schoolbook typefaceforthetext.Thisisadigitaladaptationofoneofthemostpopularfacesofthetwentiethcentury.Century’sdistinctiveromananditalicfontsanditsclear,darkstrokesandserifsweredesigned,asthenamesuggests,tomakeschoolbookseasytoread.Thedisplayfontusedonthecoverandtitlesisa21st-centurydigitalinventiontitledTelugu.ItisdesignedtoworkonalldigitalplatformsandwithIndicscripts.TeluguisnamedfortheTelugupeopleinsouthernIndiaandtheirwidelyspokenlanguage.Thisisasimple,strong,andinterestingsansserifdisplayfont.

ThisbookwasprintedandboundbyKCBookManufacturinginNorthKansasCity,Missouri.PrintedintheUnitedStates.Firstedition2015

The Hopes and Dreams Seriesby Tana Reiff

The Magic Paper (Mexican-Americans)For Gold and Blood (Chinese-Americans)

Nobody Knows (African-Americans)Little Italy (Italian-Americans)

More to come.

Contents

1 TheSweetShop ............ 1

2 Mr.NateCharles .......... 6

3 MovingNorth ...............10

4 Chicago .........................14

5 TroubleattheLake .... 20

6 BlackandWhite ......... 24

7 TheUnion ................... 29

8 FeelingLikeHome ..... 33

9 AVeryBadNight ....... 37

10 MattieFindsWork ...... 42

11 A Different Job .............47

12 StandingUp ................ 53

13 GoingHome ................ 60

Glossary ...................... 69

Nobody Knows 1

1 The Sweet Shop The American South, 1902

Mamacamein fromthefields. Thedaywashot. Six-year-oldMattie wasshellingpeas. Shelookedup at her mother. Mamalookedtired.

“Finishup,child!” saidMama. “Wearegoing intotown. I’llget thehorseandwagonready. Hurryup!”

Mattiefinished thebasketofpeas asfastasshecould. She loved goingintotown withMama.

1

2 Hopes and Dreams

Itwasfun to be off the farm nowandthen.

MamaliftedMattie ontothewagon. Mamatalked thewholewaytotown. “Ifyou’reagoodgirl, I’llbuyyou asweet,” shetoldlittleMattie.

Ofcourse, Mattiewasagoodgirl. Aftershopping, Mamatookher tothesweetshop.

Theshop hadtwodoors. Thefirstdoor had fresh paint. “WhiteOnly,” saidthesign. Theseconddoor wasoldandworn.

Nobody Knows 3

“ColoredOnly,” saidthesign ontheseconddoor. MattieandMama wentintheseconddoor.

Inside,Mr.Prinn wasserving somewhitepeople. MattieandMama waitedontheotherside ofthesweetshop.

Anotherwhitewoman cameintheshop. Mr.Prinn served her. MattieandMama stillwaited ontheblackside of the shop.

At last, Mr.Prinn cameover toMattieandMama.

4 Hopes and Dreams

“We’lleachhave asoftdrink,” saidMama. “Andasweetroll forthelittleone.”

Mr.Prinn tooktheirmoney. Heneversmiled orsaidaword.

“Idon’tthink thatmanlikesus,” saidMattie.

“Don’tmindhim,” saidMama. “Our money isasgood aswhitepeople’s. Beglad,child. Iremember whenIwasyourage. Iwasaslave. Afamilyofwhitepeople ownedourfamily. Ownedus!

Nobody Knows 5

Yes,theydid! Theyforcedus to stay on their land. Myparentsworked all day, every day, untilnightcame. Wecouldn’tgointotown wheneverwewanted. You’relucky,child. You’refree tocomeandgo asyouplease.”

“Yes,Mama,” saidMattie. Shetookabite ofhersweetroll and smiled.

2 Mr. Nate Charles Over the years Mattiegrew tallandstrong. Thefamilystayed on the farm that they rented. ButMamaandDaddy couldnevergetahead. Theypaidtheirrent incotton instead of money. But some years therewasn’tenoughcotton, so they fell behind on the rent.

Allthechildren workedonthefarm. Theland wasnottheirown. Itneverwouldbe. Butthewholefamily workedeveryinchofground likeitwastheirs.

6

Nobody Knows 7

WhenMattiewas18 shemetMr.NateCharles. Hewasabigman andagoodfarmer. Heworkedhard, justlikeMamaandDaddy. Hisfamily rented a farm about ten miles south.

“Marryme,” hebeggedMattie. “I’llgiveyou the best life thatIcan. Ican’tgiveyou agoldring. Butwecanhave afinelittlewedding. Bemywife,Mattie.”

Mattiesaidyes. Theyheld anicewedding inthecountrychurch. Everybodycame andbroughtfood.

8 Hopes and Dreams

“Notlikeyourgrandparents,” saidMama. “Theyweremarried, allright. But they never had any real papers. Slavescouldn’thave any real papers. You’relucky,child. You and Nate bylaw aremanandwife.”

MattieandNate begantheirlife on the farm. Theypaidtheirrent withashareofthecrops. But,likeMattie’sfamily, they had a hard time. Thecottoncrop wasinbigtrouble. Tinyblackbugs calledweevils atemostofthecotton beforeitwaspicked.

Nobody Knows 9

One day, Natewasintown. Ashewalked downthestreet, a man stopped him.

“I’mfromupnorth, said the man. “I’mlooking forstrongmen. Doyouwant tomakemoney? Thencomewithme. I’llevengiveyou atrainticket. Youcanwork inameatpackingplant. Youcanlive agoodlife inChicago. You’llnever liveagoodlifehere!”

Nobody Knows—Glossary 10

GlossaryDefinitions and examples of certain words and terms used in the story

Chapter 1 — The Sweet Shop page 1shelling peas—Theprocessofremovingtheshell(cover)frompeas. Six-year-old Mattie was shelling peas.

lifted (to lift)—Topickupsomeoneorsome-thing. Mama lifted Mattie onto the wagon.

fresh—Veryrecentornew. The first door had fresh paint.

colored—Atthetimeandplaceofthestory,atermusedfordark-skinnedpeople,mainlyAfrican-Americans. “Colored only” said the sign on the second door.

soft drink—Anon-alcoholicdrink,oftenwithafruitbaseandlotsofsugar. “We’ll each have a soft drink,” …

sweet roll—Asugarypastry. “And a sweet roll for the little one.”

slave—Apersonwhoisownedbyanother person.Theyhavefewrights. … when I was your age, I was a slave.

11 Hopes and Dreams

owned (to own)—Tohavesomething(orsomeone)thatispersonalproperty. A family of white people owned our family.

Chapter 2 — Mr. Nate Charles page 6cotton—AmajorcropinthesouthernUnitedStates.Cottonisusedtomakecloth. They paid their rent in cotton instead of money.

instead of—Inplaceof;asasubstituteoralternative for. They paid their rent in cotton instead of money.

fell behind (to fall behind)—Tobe unabletomakeapayment;toowemoney. … there wasn’t enough cotton, so they fell behind on the rent.

begged (to beg)—Tomakeaverystrongrequest. “Marry me,” he begged Mattie.

papers—Officiallegaldocuments. But they never had any real papers.

meatpacking plantAplacewhereanimalsarecutupintopiecesandpreparedfordistribution and sale. You can work in a meatpacking plant.