It is 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as five-year-old Nicie walks through her slum neighborhood and wonders who she really is. Raised by her grandmother, aunt, and uncle and given no details of her biological parents, Nicie feels angry and alone. She longs to belong, but Nicie is the victim of secrets. Called Nice Chile by her grandmother, Nicie is undernourished and bears the unfortunate knowledge that she is not wanted. Her grandmother cares for her, but when Nicie is six, her grandmother passes away, changing her life forever. Haunted by recurrent dreams about her parents, Nicie finds a kindred spirit in a new friend, Miss Missy Mock, who soon tells her the story of her family of another place and time and slowly unlocks the mysteries of her identity. Missy takes Nicie's hand and leads her into the past, where she is about to find the amazing grace she has been searching for her whole life. In this historical tale set in the Deep South, the truth is finally revealed to a little girl determined to discover her identity and realize the happiness she deserves.

Nice Chile

Child of WoeBy Rebecca Golden

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Rebecca Golden
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-6328-1

Chapter One

Part 1

The Row Savannah, Georgia

1925 "She pressed her feet on the cold damp floor, and crushed her hands on her heart Or stood like a statue so still and pale, lest a tear or a cry should start"

"Rosalie" Caroline Gilman

Nicie walked along side the weather-beaten picket fence, leading into the Savannah, Georgia slum houses called The Row. The stick in her hand sang a song as she walked in its rhythm, striking each board. She had thought about walking on the other side of the road to break her habit, but somehow, there was a certain amount of pleasure gained as she left marks on the fence, stripping and defacing the paint. The large flakes lay at her feet; a signature of her anger. Today, especially, she walked even faster and more furiously, as she left her marks behind. "Who am I?" she wondered. "Why won't somebody tell me?" she murmured under her breath. Again today, five-year-old Nicie had become irate.

Her morning had begun promptly at 6:00 a.m. As usual, she ate a cold biscuit left from last night's supper. This was not a problem for Nicie; she had learned to look forward to her one cold, hard biscuit each morning. She would pinch off a bite and place it in the roof of her mouth where she sucked on it until it dissolved, making sure each piece dissolve before taking the next, storing any uneaten pieces in the pocket of her apron. Granma Goolsby had made her little apron, and had trimmed the heart- shaped pocket with red rickrack that had been taken from the one she had worn out two years ago.

Leaving the house this morning before anyone awoke was not unusual. Even after they awoke, the only thing missing, as far as they were concerned, was the one biscuit. This was not because the people she lived with were stingy; it was because the Depression of the country was in the beginning stages; The Row, however, had been in a depression for years. Each family was careful to account for each commodity, using sparingly, "making ends meet," Granma Goolsby called it.

Nicie spit-bathed her eyes as she headed into the eastern direction of The Row. Soon she could see Granma Goolsby's cabin jutting out, almost in the road, which had been part of an old buggy trail. Its weather-worn ginger bread front was covered by a rusty tin top, and was in dire need of repair. Stretching into the edge of the cotton patch stood a chicken pen, filled with Rhode Island Reds, Dominiques, and a sprinkle of Game chickens. Granma's chickens furnished most of the eggs for her and Charles Goolsby, usually there were plenty left to sell.

Nicie walked on, tossing the stick into a low hanging branch; smoothing her creased apron with a fluff and a pat as thoughts of discontentment ran through her head. It didn't matter that the bed she had slept in for the last three years was a ragged patchwork quilt that lay in the corner of the kitchen behind the stove. Granma Goolsby had once told her as she spread the pallet on the rough wooden floor, "Nice Chile, you can look at each quilt block. There is a story in each one ... a life someone had many years ago when things were hard. My own Granma lived on a dirt floor and raised eight children. I say raised, but some of them didn't quite make it; never had a doctor, that poor soul. Well, she did raise six of them to be grown; two died afore they wuz three and God only knows how many she lost and wuz stillborn. She usta hold quilting parties, making bedding with goose feathers; she even sent my own mama a set of her pillows, and Chile, this here is the quilt, made with her bare hands."

Nicie smiled as Granma's house came into view. She was quite taken with this little old woman with her corn-cob pipe and old fashioned ways; she never knew how she had come to call her Granma. She only knew when Granma looked at her, her eyes would close in joy and a hint of a smile would appear on her small wrinkled lips.

Nicie walked aimlessly; she came to the railroad track crossing into a part of town she had never been and her young heart longed to go ... just to see ... to pretend to be somebody. After hearing Tollie Crane and Millie Martin's conversation this morning, she felt her heart would fail her now as it beat so fast and long.

Nicie had not meant to be in a place she was not invited, but that was before Wimpy, her puppy, refused to go back home. She discovered too late that he had followed her on her mission to gather poke salat weeds for dinner. Poke salat grew around the mule lot next to the railroad tracks in Booger Hill and Tollie Crane, her best friend, lived on top of the red clay hill nearby. Her house stood tall on brick stilts at the edge of the main road leading into downtown Savannah where Mr. Crane owned a dry goods and mercantile company. Mrs. Crane had been a dancer in New York City; Millie Martin told this story in a whisper once when Tollie didn't come out to play.

Nicie loved it when there were only the two of them together. At times, they would walk down into the freshly plowed fields and pick up broken pieces of glass. Excitedly, they would wash the pieces, turning each piece over with the front down, and would take turns guessing the colors, flowers and designs; the winner would get a handclap and hug. These were very precious moments for Nicie and sometimes her joy would become so great she could hardly contain it. She felt as though she would burst with excitement as the angels sang, "Nice Chile, Nice Chile," on and on.

"Here Wimpy, here ... come to me ... bad boy; don't you go and get me into trouble again" Nicie called! Wimpy had his nose to the ground, sniffing, tracking and running unabandoned. "You'd think you are deaf, dog! You don't hear a word I say!" Nicie spoke angrily. Wimpy whimpered, stopped and sniffed harder with his tail wagged ninety miles an hour. Outside Tollie Crane's house, Wimpy had chased her cat up the tree but the commotion did not draw anyone from the house. Nicie stood outside looking up, and then walked to the backyard. It seemed like a long way to the top of the back porch and she had never been invited inside Tollie's house. She could not see the people inside, but she could hear their conversation. Mrs. Crane said, "There is no way we can tell her the truth. Poor little Nicie can't help it, no need to go and break her heart." A cold, long shiver ran straight up Nicie's spine, her legs became weak as she felt the blood drained from her face; she felt faint. Surely it was some other Nicie they were talking about; she thought as she regained her strength and left the yard.

She forgot Wimpy and she would forget Nicie, too. "Today", she thought, "I won't let anything bother me." Starting up the path she could see the white picket fence come into view. "Home, where is home? Who am I? I am me" she lipped under her breath. "Just me, that's all." A flicker of Granma Goolsby flashed through her head, "Nice Chile, Nice Chile" she called her.

The next morning Nicie arose even earlier and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she folded the pallet and placed it neatly in her corner behind the stove. She caught a glimpse of herself in the big aluminum kettle on top of the stove. The five year old stared back at her with large, green eyes, circled with black. She licked her fingers, pushing her long bangs forward, and was reminded to ask Millie if she would loan her the scissors from her paper doll box.

Today Nicie would count to twenty-five, and September she would start to school. She could print her name, Nicie, but at the time, she left out the last "I." She loved it when her Granma Goolsby called her Nice Chile. Many times she could hear the angels singing, "Nice Chile, Nice Chile" over and over as a cloak of warmth would envelop her small, undernourished body as the words penetrated her soul.

Wimpy had returned home by himself and was fast asleep on the back doorstep. Nicie reached over for the left-over hardened breakfast, closed the screened door behind her and sat on the back stoop. Wimpy accepted the generous pinch she offered; for his rib cage was indelibly imprinted in her mind. She dared not take another biscuit this morning so she would pick a pear, hanging from the neighbor's tree across the picket fence, and maybe, just maybe, if she went to Granma Goolsby's she would have a little bit of cornbread and a bowl of soup. Granma always made soup from the left-over's of the last few days she had stored in an old tin covered ice box on the back porch. Every three or four days the iceman would come by and leave ten cents worth of ice; left-over ice from the tea glasses was rinsed and used to cool the well water that was stored in the cedar bucket located on the back porch shelf.

Nicie and Wimpy finished the biscuit as Uncle Coot called out, "Good morning, did you have something to eat this morning?" He looked around the kitchen and said, "Well, no, it looks like we won't be having breakfast this morning," he corrected. He reached into the cupboard made of stacked apple crates and retrieved a mason jar. He took out a small piece of beef jerky and said "Here, chew on this; it'll tide you over until dinner". His back was turned from Nicie, and she was grateful that her eyes did not meet his embarrassment. At least he'd thought of her. "Thank you, sir", she said as she walked out of the kitchen.

Wimpy was waiting for her, giving a direct look, he wagged his tail, and lifted his paw. Nicie sat on the stoop, stripping the jerky with her teeth. Suddenly, Uncle Coot peered out over her shoulder, catching her off guard, "We don't have nothing for that dog" and closed the door behind him. In the new sunlight of the morning, Nicie darted onto the cracked concrete sidewalk. Taking her stick from the tree, she jutted it out hitting the picket fence with a force she thought would awaken Auntie Mazie. Suddenly, she threw the stick beside the path as she headed to Granma's house.

The chicken coop sat in Granma Goolsby's backyard and the baby chicks she had ordered from Sears and Roebuck back in the spring had now grown into fryers. Today, not only would there be chicken soup but a piece of fried chicken as well. Nicie could almost replace the salt beef flavored jerky with warm, crunchy, succulent fried chicken from Granma's cast iron frying pan.

She could hear Granma's voice, "That you, Nice Chile?" "Yes ma'am, Granma, it's me and Wimpy", she replied happily, nothing in the world was big enough to steal this moment! It was as if all the angels in heaven had gathered together to pour all the love in the world into this one, sad little heart so Nicie began to hum.

"It that music I hear?" Granma asked.

"No ma'am", Nicie answered shyly.

"Well, it musta been the angels singing. It sorta sounds like their kinda music", Granma replied, as she rung the chicken's neck. Nicie thought her act to be a little extreme but never looked directly at the crime so she said nothing. The moments seemed like hours as she sat and watched Granma sink the headless chicken into a large pail of scalding water, dunking it over and over again.

"Get over here Chile. Pick up some of these feathers, and mind you, don't waste `em. I have pillows to make this year", Granma demanded. Timidly, Nicie did as she was told, when suddenly; wave after wave of nausea hit her and the last thing she remembered was seeing the large spurts of blood, shooting past her as Granma disemboweled today's fried chicken.

The shock of the bright light from the sun made Nicie blink as she was coming around and, Granma was busily blowing in her face and slapping her hands. Eventually, sitting up, Nicie could see the spatters of blood, like small red freckles covering her hands and arms and, the world began to turn rapidly spinning her out of it, once again.

"Dinner's ready", Granma called from the kitchen. Nicie did not remember being in the house nor how she'd gotten there. Her arms and hands were clean and covered with rolled up sleeves of Granma's nightgown. Granma had made her plate with the wishbone, Nicie's favorite piece, before the chicken killing. The food she had craved and loved now became an object of offense and revulsion; her stomach growled. Pain shot through her abdomen like a blow torch and, she began to heave, to gag and to wretch.

Granma put her in her soft goose-down bed; eventually, sleep enveloped this battle-torn, undernourished, Nice Chile. She slept until the next morning while in her dreams the angels sang, "Nice Chile, Nice Chile".

She awakened long before daylight and felt her way out of the cabin onto the dusty road toward home. Late three times in a row! Nicie's feet tapped softly on the soft dirt road; today, surely she would not get by with excuses.

The sun was not up yet as she slipped into the kitchen through the back door, unfolded her pallet and, lay guilty on the floor. A glance at the closed bedroom door of Uncle Coot and Auntie Mazie's room, assured her they were still asleep. She had never become accustomed to Auntie Mazie's harshness and whining voice and today was not a good time to start.

She must have drifted off to sleep as loud voices awakened her senses. "It's not my fault!" Auntie Mazie shouted. "I never wanted that child. Maybe that's why God didn't give me one of my own!" Uncle Coot's voice was cool and calm, "Shhh, she'll hear you. You don't have to do nothing for her. She stays with Mama most of the time, anyway. She don't ask for nothing so the least you could do is to be kind to her." The same fight continued day after day.

Nicie pretended not to hear as she folded her pallet and left the house without her biscuit; her appetite was gone now. She walked without direction, stopping to pick blackberries here and there. The tendrils flowed gently about her face as she bended over for she had forgotten to comb her hair.

It was Sunday and the church bells across the tracks had begun to chime a familiar tune. She began to sing, keeping the beat of the bells; "I am me; I am me, just me, Nice Chile." What a beautiful melody filling the air and, in every bush and tree the birds sang her song in unison.

Walking down the railroad tracks she made a shortcut to the big brick church; "Oh how beautiful and how awesome! God sure has a wonderful home to live in", she thought from her small hiding place in a heavy growth of shrubbery across the road. She watched intently as the fathers and mothers held the hands of their children, as they walked slowly and reverently into the church. For the first time, she had the courage to walk this far across the tracks and to hear the words to the music of the bells, "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound." Her small bones cramped from crouching for the past hour, so Nicie got up and started her long walk home. She began to wonder, "Who could this Grace be? Is she the pretty lady who took her children by the hand, or was she the one that had been polishing the shoes of her small son? I sure wish I knew this amazing Grace. Well maybe I'll find her one day." Nicie walked swiftly towards Granma's house and began to sing, "Grace for every need, Grace for every need."

Nicie's foot had barely touched the first doorstep when Granma's voice rang out. "Where you been Chile? Sho ain't no use worrying `bout you. Y'ant got no time frame, girl." Nicie's footsteps quickened, "No ma'am, I mean yes ma'am, I was just walking about."

"From the red clay on your feet, looks like you been across the tracks, clear up to Booger Hill, and then some", Granma said with disgust.

"Got things to do making soap, gotta kettle on now in the backyard, gotta stock up for winter", she complained as she dumped the lye into the pig lard.

"Gotta get you ready for school, now go look and see what I made for you. You need to wash up before you try it on `cause you can't stay clean for nothin'. Would crawl right into a fresh, clean dress, as dirty as you are", she grumbled.

Minutes later Nicie sat for her late dinner of the wishbone left from yesterday, along with hot biscuits made especially for her. After two buttered biscuits and cold chicken she was full and ready to try on her new dress.

The voile dress, sheer and full-bodied with a dropped waistline, was banded with a skinny sash. Nicie's heart dropped; for this dress was nothing like the ones she'd seen today, as a small parade of girls were ushered into the church. Luckily a pin from the hem struck her bare flesh but, the drops of blood could never measure the drops of tears, falling from her eyes! Granma rushed quickly to care for the small puncture wound, patting her softly; she administered love to this small, wounded child but, was unaware of the true reason Nicie cried. Feeling sad, Nicie murmured, "Thank you, ma'am, its pretty."

Later that afternoon, as Granma made her soap, Nicie took a red crayon and busily drew the dresses she had seen today onto pasteboard grocery boxes Granma had stacked in the corner of the back porch. Under each drawing she printed Nice Chile, and wrote numbers one through twenty-five. On one of the boxes, in large print was "GRACE"; even a neon sign would not have been so obvious.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Nice Chileby Rebecca Golden Copyright © 2012 by Rebecca Golden. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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