Jubilee

In July, the cotton and corn grow fast. Vyry spends much of the summer making love to Randall Ware in the cornfields. Missy Salina is “supervising her annual canning and preserving and jelly making,” while “breaking in a girl” to take Lucy’s place (156). The girl is ignorant of her mistress’ tendencies and tries to ingratiate herself by being obsequious. However, each day, after all the preserves are secured and placed on the shelves, Missy Salina forces the girl to drink a spoonful of ipecac. The girl can hardly stand the taste and vomits constantly. Vyry explains that this is the mistress’ way of seeing if the girl is eating her condiments. Vyry also advises her against “grinning and bowing and scraping in Big Missy’s face” (156) because it won’t do her any good.

To escape the heat, Missy Salina and Marse John go to the Savannah coast. With Grimes in charge, the slaves practice “a dozen ways to dawdle and try his patience” (157) without actually giving him good cause to beat them. He orders women and children to pick 100 pounds of cotton each day, while men pick 200. Grimes also oversees carpentry work on the slave shacks.