I was a fool, I knows--ter stick ter him. ’Deed I was! But I’se so scar’t an’ down in de mouf dat I ain’ got good sense. (_Aunt Rebecca nods sympathetically._) All de time Jeff keep gittin’ harder an’ harder. An’ me wukkin’ mah haid off ter feed him an’ de chillen. Ev’y onct in while he gits mad an’ beats me up. Finally I’se pretty neah crazy. One night w’en he’s away I gits mah broder Slim ter come ovah an’ he’p me. We packs ev’ythin’ up an’ moves ovah yere--an’ I did’n’ tell nobody whar I was gwine. AUNT REBECCA Yo’ look like yo’ had somefin’ on yo’ min’--dat fust day I seen yo’ yere! LUCY BELLE ’Deed I did! (_Shakes her head._) Ain’ seen hide nor hair-a him since. (_Abruptly, after a moment or two of troubled thought._) Yo’--yo’ see, Aun’ Becky, ef dey’s anabody in de worl’ dat Sam hate--it--it Jeff Bisbee-- AUNT REBECCA Sho! Sho! LUCY BELLE Hate him like poison! (_Hesitatingly._) I--I ain’ nevah tol’ him dat I live wid Jeff. AUNT REBECCA Yo’ ain’--? LUCY BELLE Ain’ had de nerve! He know dat I married Ed Cales--an’ I tol’ him mos’ ev’ythin’ else--an’ he say w’at is pas is pas’. But yo’ see it was Jeff dat bus’ him an’ me up befo’--an’ he call him de hardes’ niggah in Wash’nin’-- AUNT REBECCA Any way ob him findin’ out--? LUCY BELLE Only ef somebody tell him. AUNT REBECCA Who know--? LUCY BELLE Slim, an’ dem people in Carter Street, an’ ole Lizzie Gibbs-- AUNT REBECCA She know--? LUCY BELLE (_nodding_) Sho’. AUNT REBECCA Den’ yo’ bettah watch out--kase ef she like w’at yo’ tell me she ain’ gwine ter keep it to herse’f. LUCY BELLE I reckon she ain’--an’ dat’s w’at got me so worried. Yo see, she yere Sam talk so much ’bout me dat it make her crazy jealous. W’en he gwine ’way ter Atlanta, she figure dat ef he come back he mos’ likely come ter me fust. Leas’-ways dat w’at I think she figure. So she move ovah dere ter Carter Street, an’ take a house near me, wid de idea dat maybe she kin bus’ me an’ Sam up--ef he come back. I was married ter Ed Cales den--but aftah while I takes up wid Jeff--like I done tol’ yo’--an’ all de time she’s watchin’ me like a hawk widout me knowin’ it--. AUNT REBECCA Tryin’ ter git somefin’ on yo’--! LUCY BELLE Sho’! An’ now--now dat she found out whar I live--an’ dat he’s back--she’s comin’ at me agin--! AUNT REBECCA Put de _po_-lice on her! LUCY BELLE Den she boun’ ter tell Sam--an’ lie an’ blackguard on me wuss den evah--! Don’ yo’ see--? (_Twining and intertwining her fingers and staring into space with a distraught expression._) I don’ know w’at ter do! (_The children suddenly give vent to shouts and can be heard romping wildly in the room, off Left._) LUCY BELLE (_rising_) Listen ter dem chillen--! (_Moving toward, Left._) ’Scuse me while I puts dem ter bed. (_Aunt Rebecca sits in a brown study._) AUNT REBECCA (_as Lucy Belle nears the door, Left_) Lucy Belle--! LUCY BELLE (_pausing_) Yas. AUNT REBECCA Who de fader ob Fanny? LUCY BELLE