THIS IS A STORY told me by Miss Harriet ( Sissa ) Hartsfield , of Butte , Montana , when she was about 35 years old . I composed this from memory , within an hour of the relation of the story , when Miss Hartsfield had left . I didn 't take notes during the telling , but I don 't believe I left anything out and this seems to be just what she said . - B . S . I was just sixteen when old Mrs . St . Ives carried me up to Montana . I was born in Texas , in the town of Singletree . My Mama was housekeeper for Mrs . St . Ives . So when Mrs . St . Ives went to visit her son , Mr . Gaylord St . Ives , not long after his marriage , she got the notion that he needed a proper housekeeper . My Mama must have told her that I was trained for that , because she took me up there and I have never been back to Texas , since . I can 't say that I care about that , except that I only saw my Mama one more time before she died , when she came up to Butte a few years later , with old Mrs . St . Ives . She died two years ago , and I feel just awfully sad that we never got to spend any more time together than we did . She was a good Christian woman , she had a good life with people who loved her and who she loved , and I know she is in Heaven now . The thing that most sticks in my mind about that journey from Texas , which was the first time I ever rode on a train , is that the minute I got to Butte it seemed like Mrs . Hazel St . Ives didn 't want me around . But it must not have been clear to the old lady , Mr . St . Ives 's mother , because she left me there after she went home a month later , and I don 't think she knew what was likely to become of me . She must have thought I would work into the job of keeping Mr . St . Ives 's house . I don 't think she would have left me there if she didn 't think I was going to work out . That was in 1911 , about a week before Christmas , when we got there . Lord , was it cold ! Some say it was twenty - below , but it was colder than I knew it could be . The train had to run very slow at times because they had to heat the switches so that they would work , so I was told . I could see the men out on the tracks , building little fires . When old Mrs . St . Ives left it felt even colder . I don 't know why Mrs . Hazel didn 't take to me . Some girls I got to know later would smile and shake their heads , as if I was silly . They said it was plain as day why she didn 't want me around . It was all about Mr . St . Ives . But I never hardly saw Mr . St . Ives until after his mother left and the very next day he took me downtown to Ma Ling 's house . I should have known then , but I was only sixteen and I 'd been brought up proper in my Mama 's house down in Singletree , a good church girl . I went all the way through the eighth grade and always did well , but they don 't tell you about these kinds of things in a country school , or Sunday School . But even a good church girl knows something , especially if she 's a Negro . My Mama told me some things , and my aunties , and my girl friends , what they call " the facts of life . " So I guess I understood a little bit about what was going on . And to tell you the truth , it scared me to death . But it was kind of exciting , too . Ma Ling was a Chinawoman . She was the first Chinese person I ever knew . She was always very good to me , but I guess most people would say she was not a good woman . She owned a whorehouse , but I didn 't know it was a whorehouse , right yet . It wasn 't on Venus Alley , downtown , but it was in an apartment building close by . Let me say right now , Ma Ling did not let anything happen to me . I mean nothing at all . On the way down there I sat in the back of Mr . St . Ives 's car and he never said a word until we got down there and then all he said was I had to stay there , it was the best he could do for now , and if I needed anything , I should just ask Ma Ling . So I just stayed there . Ma Ling didn 't tell me much . She was a close - mouthed woman at all times , and Mr . St . Ives must have told her to keep her mouth shut . Maybe he didn 't know himself what he was doing . So while it was freezing and the wind was howling outside and you couldn 't hardly see down the mountain , I just stayed in Ma Ling 's place with nothing to do but read magazines and books and sit and fret . There were several other girls in that place , some of them quite a bit older , grown - up women , but I didn 't visit with all of them , just three or four . They all seemed to me to be very pretty , even beautiful . They wore mostly fancy bedroom clothes , dressing gowns and kimonos and chemises , but sometimes they got dressed up very elegantly , when they were going out . One of them that I got to know was an Indian girl , about eighteen , named Veronica , and the two others that I mostly talked to were white girls , Mary Lou and JoBeth . Veronica was from Montana , from somewhere " up on the High Line , " she said . She was a Cree Indian . Mary Lou was a jolly blonde girl from Seattle and JoBeth was a skinny dark - haired girl from California , from a town I never heard of , but I think it was in the mountains , where a wagon train of settlers got snowed in and ate each other . The others I didn 't see much and never got to know them . They came and went . They were all whores , but I didn 't know that , at first . I guess I must have known what a whore was already , but it wasn 't real clear to me . I had heard of the Whore of Babylon , in church , but I didn 't see any connection to these girls . But I soon understood . The girls I knew had little apartments , not like mine , which had a parlor and a bedroom with its own bath . They lived in single bedrooms and shared a bath down the hall . But they entertained men in another room , any of several rooms on the other side of the building . What is there to say ? I know what it was all about now , but it 's hard to recollect just how much I knew then . I believe I knew more than I was supposed to know , for a good little church girl . I didn 't know everything , but I knew about boys and girls and babies , and whatever Veronica and Mary Lou and JoBeth told me , it seemed like I already knew it . But maybe I 'm just not remembering it right . Anyway , I was quite a few weeks in that house , being bored , even working around the house for something to do , cleaning , dusting , washing up , do some sewing , helping out , even though Ma Ling said I didn 't have to do any of that . And all the time I didn 't know what was going to happen and I was wondering if my Mama knew where I was , even . I didn 't have any letters from her , or from my aunties , and I was very worried about what was going to become of me and what they would be thinking . I didn 't write anything , or even ask to . I was too afraid . Ma Ling told me to be patient , everything would be all right . And then , one night , Mr . St . Ives came . He was about thirty - five , a handsome man , tall and slim . He was always so very well - dressed . He had kind of a dark look , like he was frowning all the time , and sometimes he could seem like he was mad , or sneering . But that night he was drunk . Not falling down drunk , but not steady on his feet , neither . And he was talking loud . I heard him talking to Ma Ling . Her apartment , which was quite large and grand , was right before mine , directly down the hall . Anybody coming into that building would have to go by her apartment and down a narrow passage to get to my own rooms . I imagine that is why I was in those rooms . I heard Mr . St . Ives talking and I went and cracked the door and peeped and I saw him out at the end of the hall , next to the big staircase in the middle of the entrance lobby . My hallway was dark , as always , so I knew he wouldn 't see me . Ma Ling was standing inside the door to her rooms , so I couldn 't see her . He was leaning on the doorway with his arm outstretched , talking into the opening , arguing , and sometimes he would lurch back and lean against the staircase . He was saying that he wanted to see me , that " it was time . " But Ma Ling seemed to be arguing against it . I couldn 't hear her words , but I caught the sing - song of her voice . I think she was telling him to go away . And she must have tried to close her door , but he lunged forward and held it open . But then , suddenly , Ma Ling 's hand reached out and pulled him into the rooms and the door closed and nothing happened . I finally closed my door and locked it and sat in a chair for a long time . I tried to read . Ma Ling and some of the girls had given me some novels to read , to help pass the time . The one I was trying to read was A Girl of the Limberlost , which was about a young girl in Indiana who catches moths . The girls thought I should like it , but it seemed very strange to me . Anyway , I put it down . I couldn 't read now . But nothing happened and finally I went to bed . The next morning , Ma Ling came to see me and said I must be prepared to entertain Mr . St . Ives . He would come to see me , but she didn 't know when , how soon . She asked me if I was a virgin . A week or two before this , I would have been embarrassed by the question . Now , since I had talked to Veronica and Mary Lou and JoBeth , I was almost embarrassed to admit that I was . Ma Ling was not going to take my word for it , however . She insisted on examining me . Now I was embarrassed . But she was the kind of woman who doesn 't make any big show of things . She was firm , careful , and businesslike . That calmed me . She was satisfied after her examination and she gave me some advice . " You don 't know what to do , " she said . " That 's okay . He expect that . Do you not want to give in ? " Ma Ling suddenly became angry . " I will not have it , " she said . " If you refuse , I will not have it in my house . He cannot make me . " I was afraid now . I thought she meant that I might have to go . But where ? I had heard the girls talk about being " out on the street . " They talked about it with fear . I wasn 't sure what it meant , but if I had to go out on the street … It was so cold ! So bitterly cold ! I would die . I think Ma Ling realized that I had misunderstood . I was scared , she could tell . She said something about " rape . " She would not tolerate rape . I knew what rape was , or I thought I did . Mama had talked about rape . I don 't mean she talked to me about it , but I used to hear her talking to my aunties about it , and her friends . Seemed like they talked about it a lot . It was a serious thing . It was against the law , but it was also very bad for the girl who was raped . Rape was very bad , awful . It was painful and it caused bleeding . That 's what I understood , but I didn 't know what was involved , obviously . A girl was always in danger of it , it seemed like . I had an idea that some girls got raped and it was their own fault , something they did that was wrong . " She brought it on herself , " was what I heard . This was an idea that my girlfriends down in Singletree talked about often . I wasn 't sure how it applied to me , now . I wasn 't doing anything wrong , I didn 't think . I wasn 't doing anything at all . I told Ma Ling I wasn 't sure , but I would try to be good and not be raped . But Ma Ling looked at me and she just shook her head . I was scared , but not unwilling to do what she thought I should do . I wasn 't refusing to entertain Mr . St . Ives . Ma Ling was still upset , but she said maybe it would be okay . Maybe it would be for the best . She told me that Mr . St . Ives was a very rich man , very powerful . " If he wants you he will have you , " she said . But she warned me that men are stupid . She said , sometimes a man like Mr . St . Ives , if he didn 't know how to get what he wanted by talking , by acting like gentleman , like with his wife , he might get tough . He might take what he wanted by force . " You don 't want him to act like that , " she told me . I could get hurt , if he got angry . " You got to help him to get what he wants , " she said . But then she warned me : " Remember ! Don 't act like you already know ! He don 't like that . " I was so confused , I had no idea what she was talking about . So Ma Ling showed me how to act : to be shy , to resist a little but not too much , to not seem knowing , to let him show me what he wanted , to be patient , but if he got confused I should lead him on without seeming to . This was the way . And she showed me just what might happen . She would be nearby , just in case . I was not to worry . But I was very anxious and naturally I asked the girls . Veronica laughed . It was easy , she said . " Don 't you worry . He 's got his mind on one thing . He won 't notice what you 're doing , as long as you don 't scream and run away . " And Mary Lou said if I was lucky and he wasn 't drunk it would be all right , no problem , just like Veronica said , but JoBeth thought it would be better if he was a little drunk . They argued about that . In the end they thought that there was nothing I could do about that . I couldn 't act like a professional and offer him whiskey . I 'd just have to wait and see how he showed up . Two nights later he returned . Ma Ling brought him to my door , then left . I was alarmed at that , but she had told me she would be just outside the door , just in case . He came in and sat down , then got up and wandered about , looking at things . He said he was just checking on me , to see how I was getting along . He asked me if I was comfortable . I said I was . He said he had heard from my mother . I was so excited ! What did she write ? But he said it was just that she missed me , she was thinking about me , she was well . I should write to her and tell her that I was all right . Did I have a pen , paper ? Stamps ? Did I know how to write ? Oh , yes , I assured him that I could write good . But , I told him that I didn 't have any stationery or pens or stamps . And he said he would see that I had some . I thanked him but I said I didn 't know what I should write . Could I tell her that I was staying with Ma Ling ? Could I tell her about Veronica and Mary Lou and JoBeth ? Oh , God no , that wouldn 't do , he said . He seemed to be confused , or worried , standing there trying to think . Then he said I would be up at the house , eventually . He didn 't know how soon , but pretty soon . In the meantime , there was no point in making my Mama worry , or his Mama , for that matter , ' cause she was bound to hear about it from my Mama if I said anything . He said that under his breath , almost , but I understood and I nodded to let him know . He seemed grateful . He explained that his wife , Miz Hazel , he called her , was a bit high strung . It had nothing to do with me , really , but with his mother and Miz Hazel 's feelings about her own house and having her own people about her . I told him I understood . He was glad to see that I was such a smart and mature young lady , he said . He was happy that we could talk so comfortably . He asked if I minded if he took off his overcoat . I said no , of course not . Then he sat down with the coat folded in his lap . Pretty soon he fished out a little leather - covered flask and asked me if he could bother me for a glass . There was a little room back by the bath , which I called my kitchen . It was no bigger than a closet , hardly , but there was a sink and some cabinets and little table where I sometimes ate the dinner that Ma Ling would have her servant bring me . I had some nice little crystal glasses that Ma Ling had provided . I ran and got Mr . St . Ives a glass . When I got back , he had set the coat aside and was holding a cigar . He asked if I minded if he smoked . I said no , of course not , and fetched him a saucer to use for an ashtray . He poured himself some whiskey and lit his cigar and began to talk . That night he told me about growing up down in Texas . He knew the little village of Singletree very well , he said . He had often ridden over that way . There was a famous well over that way , he recalled . Did I know it ? I must . I told him I did , of course . It was the artesian well , or spring , at Nahor . He used to go bird hunting over that way , he said , and he would water his horse at the spring . He laughed in a shy way and said some of his friends used to flirt with the girls who came to get water at the well for their houses . Did I ever go to the well ? I told him I went to the well , to get water for my Mama 's house . He said he supposed the boys still came to the spring , to flirt with the girls . Did I ever go with any of those boys ? Oh , no , I said , my Mama would have whipped me . He said that was good . My Mama was right . He knew right where our house was , in Singletree , near the railroad tracks . " I believe your daddy was a railroad man , wasn 't he ? " he asked . I said I guessed that was so , but I hadn 't known him . He had died when I was little . Mr . St . Ives said he knew my whole family , my Daddy , who he said was a fine man , a good worker . Uncle Dub , he called him . It was a bad accident that killed him , he said . He knew my older brothers , who were in the army and served honorably , and my older sisters . He knew their names . And my aunties . He remembered Aunt Sister , especially . She was the pretty one . Everyone called her Sissa and I looked very much like her . Would I mind if he called me Sissa ? I laughed . I 'd called her Aunt Sissa , too . It seemed funny that he would call me Sissa . But I said he could , of course . He told me how he missed Texas , especially in the morning . He had strong memories of morning in Texas , of the way the light was . Especially in the fall , the late fall , November . " It 's not the same light here , " he said . " Here the light comes over the mountain . Out there , it gradually grows , covering the sky , and then the sun just pops up out of the earth . " He went on about that . How the sun rises out of the earth , gathering its strength , gradually growing like a symphony orchestra , almost . It was like poetry , the way he said it . I had never heard a symphony orchestra , at that time , but I seemed to hear it , the strings , quiet at first , then getting louder , and finally the horns joining in . And then a great crash of the cymbals . It was thrilling to hear him talk about it . But all of a sudden , he got up and put on his coat and left . Just like that , without another word ! I was a little disappointed , to be honest . I had gotten over my fears when he turned out to be so friendly and all , and then I got to remembering what Ma Ling had coached me about and had gotten myself all ready for something different , but it hadn 't happened . I thought , he doesn 't like me . I wondered if it was because I was a Negro . The girls were amazed when I told them . I made up some things , I admit . I said he hugged me and he kissed me , but he hadn 't even touched me . I couldn 't pretend that anything else had happened . They said that he was just shy , that he would be back . And they were right . He came back the next night . He started right in where he had left off , about being a boy in Texas , going out in the morning to the horse barns . He loved the smell of the barns , of the horses . He had some horses here , he said , but he had to keep them at a ranch that was miles away and he couldn 't just go and visit them whenever he wanted , not every morning . He grew up on army posts , he told me . His father had fought in the War Between the States , on the Union side , and after the war had risen to the rank of colonel . I knew there was a Fort near Singletree , but we always just called it the fort . I never knew the name . And his daddy was the colonel , the commander of the fort ! Mr . St . Ives came almost every night for two weeks and he would sit and reminisce while he sipped his whiskey and smoked a cigar . He really seemed to like me , to like my company . Maybe it was because I was from Texas , from his home , and understood what he was talking about . The girls laughed when I told them that . They said it was because of my bosom . Well , it was true , I had developed early . And it was true that Mr . St . Ives would stop and look at me from time to time and shake his head and say , " You 're so mature , Sissa . " But I honestly don 't believe he meant that I was mature that way . I think he meant that I understood him so well . But the girls laughed at that and said , Why do you think his wife wouldn 't have you in the house ? One night , Mr . St . Ives said he felt so bad about keeping me up to all hours , that a pretty young thing like me needed her beauty sleep . I said I was fine , that I enjoyed hearing him talk about " down home " . But he insisted that I go to bed . He told me I should go put on my nightie and he 'd come in and tuck me in when I was ready . So I went and slipped into my nightgown in the bathroom . I thought that something would happen now . But when I got in bed I didn 't know what to do next , so I just lay there . Pretty soon he came and knocked on the door and I said , Come in . And he tiptoed in and made a show of tucking me in . Then he kissed me on the forehead , said goodnight and left . After that , each evening he would sit and drink and smoke and talk and then tell me to go get ready and be sure to call out when I was ready . And after a couple of nights of this he said he thought he would just lie down next to me and talk a bit until I fell asleep . He would lie on the bed fully dressed , and talk until quite late . The first couple of nights I pretended to fall asleep and he would get up and tiptoe out . But then I got where his voice droning on and on in the darkness actually put me to sleep . And finally , after a couple of nights of this , he said it was kind of cold and did I mind if he just slipped under the covers . I said I wouldn 't mind so he took off his shoes and got in beside me , fully dressed . And that night , at long last , he began to touch me , asking if I minded if he did this , and then that . And , oh , what a long exhausting process it was , of fumbling , touching my breasts , my belly and hips , of kicking off his own clothes , then promising not to hurt me , of oh so careful positioning , and at last , of a bit of pain and finally relief . Something else was happening , about the same time . I can 't be sure now if it was before Mr . St . Ives first came to visit me at Ma Ling 's , or if it was a week or two later . But about that time another man came to see me . It was a policeman . He was a very tall Negro man , one of the biggest men I ever saw , named Eberhard Mason . First he came to see Ma Ling . She brought him to see me . In my presence , she told him that I was simply a guest , a young girl who had been brought to her by a respectable man who wished to find a safe place for me to stay while he made arrangements for my employment . There was no question of my working in the house , she told him , in her broken lingo . It was just that it was difficult to find a proper temporary residence for a girl of my sort . Meaning a Negro , of course . The policeman could understand that , she was sure . The policeman seemed half - convinced , but he said he 'd have to question me , privately . Ma Ling withdrew . Officer Mason got right to the point . " Who brought you here ? " When I told him what I knew I could see he understood the situation , right off . It was a touchy business , he told me . Mr . St . Ives was , as Ma Ling had said , a very powerful man . He worked for the Company and the Company pretty much ran Butte . They had a lot of influence , he said . They had gotten the mayor run out of office and they had their own men in the police . But they didn 't control him . That was almost the only thing they didn 't run , not yet , anyway . He asked me how old I was . " I want the truth , " he said , and looked me in the eye very sternly , like a preacher . I told him I was sixteen . I couldn 't tell if he believed that . Finally , he said , he 'd have to contact my parents . I told him about my Mama and about my Daddy being dead . I told him I was afraid my Mama would be mad , or upset , if she knew what had happened . But Officer Mason said he would check up with authorities in Singletree and find out what he could . He couldn 't promise that my Mama wouldn 't hear about it , but he would try to be discreet , and he 'd warn the Singletree police about saying anything , but he couldn 't guarantee what they might say or do . Then he went away , saying he would be back to talk to me again as soon as he learned anything . I was scared , but I didn 't say anything about Officer Mason 's visit to Mr . St . Ives , and I don 't believe that Ma Ling said anything . I had already written two letters to my Mama , with Mr . St . Ives standing right there to see what I wrote and even telling me what to say . It wasn 't the truth . I said I was working in the house and everything was nice , I missed her and my sisters and brothers and Singletree and all , but the folks up here treated me nice and I was happy . And Mr . St . Ives would take the letters to mail them . I didn 't say what house I was in so , in a way , it wasn 't a black lie , just a white one . That 's how I thought , then . Officer Mason came back the next night , and every night , after that , in the early evening , before Mr . St . Ives would come . He told me to call him Eberhard , his first name . He liked me , I could tell . At first , he was just interested in finding out about my " situation . " He was very patient , very gentle . He soon got it out of me that Mr . St . Ives had not " touched me , " as he put it . But what , he wondered , were his intentions ? I couldn 't say . At least , not then . It looked to me like all the man wanted to do was talk . I told him all about the late night conversations about Mr . St . Ives 's boyhood in Texas . Eberhard was puzzled . He didn 't seem totally convinced , but what could he do ? The man was evidently trying to do something on my behalf , trying to ease a difficult domestic situation . Eberhard was like the girls , he said with a smile that he understood why Mrs . St . Ives had refused to have me in the house . But he said , he was surprised that Mr . St . Ives continued to visit me . If Mrs . St . Ives ever found out , he said , " there would be hell for him in his own house . " He warned me about mentioning his visits to Mr . St . Ives , that it would make him angry . " Better to wait until I hear something from down in Texas , " he said . So each evening , Eberhard would discuss with me what had happened the previous night , what I thought might happen next , and what would be best to do for me . All of this attention made me even more excited . From being terribly lonely and bored , at first feeling abandoned , not knowing what would become of me , I had gotten pretty used to the house . I still didn 't know a thing about Butte , because I was never let out , except to take the air in the back yard , or walk around the block with Ma Ling , or sometimes go with her to visit some of her Chinese friends . It was still bitterly cold out , but sometimes it would be sunny and I would see children playing in the streets - they were often poor children , not very warmly dressed , but they didn 't seem to mind . They stared at me . I think there were not a lot of Negroes in Butte . As for the girls , I talked to them a lot , of course , and learned about their activities , about their gentlemen callers . But I was not quite wanting to join them in their activities and anyway I understood that I was in some kind of special limbo , thanks to Mr . St . Ives 's interest . The girls were quite drawn into my situation . I now had two men very interested in me - they knew , naturally , about Eberhard 's visits . Of the two , there was no question that Eberhard was the more interesting . For one thing , he was not so old as Mr . St . Ives , being about thirty . Also , he was a man of my own race - I felt that I could talk with him - and he was very handsome , very attractive indeed . He was the most handsome man I had ever seen . They were also thrilled about Mr . St . Ives . To them , he was the most interesting , I guess , because he was well - known , and powerful . I was also attracted to Mr . St . Ives . He was elegant , well - dressed , very well spoken . He was from my own part of the world and he knew my family . He spoke about them , often . I was grateful that he was helping me to write letters to my Mama - not that I couldn 't have written them , I had done well in school , but he knew just what to tell her . He would describe some of my duties at the house . " Don 't worry , it 's what you will be doing , maybe soon , " he explained . As strange as it seems , I had gotten used to all this . Even a child soon adapts to strange situations . I am pretty certain that it was just after the first time that Mr . St . Ives finally made love to me that Eberhard came to me with information he 'd gotten from Texas . It may have been a day or two later , but it was pretty close . The fact was , after that first time , the conversations about Texas pretty much stopped and Mr . St . Ives would want to go to bed with me as soon as he arrived . Perhaps later we would lie in bed and he 'd talk a bit . But now , Eberhard said he 'd learned that I wasn 't sixteen , I was only fifteen . That made a big difference , he said . I was only a child , legally , and I shouldn 't be in the custody of Ma Ling . I insisted I was sixteen , but Eberhard didn 't believe me . He said he had good evidence , from the state of Texas , that I was only fifteen . If this was true , and he was sure it was , any man who touched me would be guilty of rape . I was horrified . I knew I had been doing something that was probably wrong , but I couldn 't believe it was rape . I didn 't want to be raped . I didn 't want to be one of those kinds of girls . And then , Eberhard knew that I had been with Mr . St . Ives . He was furious . He said he would have to talk to the judge . I pleaded with him . I was scared more than I had been . Ma Ling would throw me out on the street , I told him . He thought that was probably so . Ma Ling would be scared that she , too , would be brought into the rape case , for providing the accommodation for debauchery , as he put it . The house might be closed down . All the girls would be out on the street . I was thunderstruck . Oh , please , please , please , I begged him , don 't do it . I could see that Eberhard was moved . He said he would have to think about it . Maybe he could talk to Mr . St . Ives . That scared me even more . I knew Mr . St . Ives would be furious . I had seen his face get dark , sometimes , if he talked about things that upset him . That was when he talked about the miners and about " Reds . " He was not a man I wanted to anger . Something happened then . First , the following night neither Mr . St . Ives nor Eberhard came to visit . All of a sudden the house was silent . Ma Ling came and looked at me , but she didn 't say anything , just shook her head and went away . None of the girls came out of their rooms . When I went to visit their doors were closed and no one answered when I knocked or called . A girl who worked for Ma Ling , a scullery maid they called her , brought me some food . Her eyes were very big . All she would tell me was that there was big trouble . Then she ran away . The next night , Mr . St . Ives came and got me . It was still very cold , very snowy . He had a couple of men with him . He seemed very business - like . He told me I must move from this house . It wasn 't a proper place for me , he said . He told the two men to pack up my things . Then he put on my coat and took me away to a little house down the hill from the city . Now Mr . St . Ives came every night . I lived by myself in the little house , which was nice . He would bring me nice things . Furniture , groceries , clothes . Things got a little rough , at times . He sometimes got angry with me . He would get drunk . He told me that Mason had died . I was upset , then he got angry with me . He said , " That son of a bitch told people he was going to marry you ! " He demanded to know if we had married . When I said no , he said I 'd lied to him , had plotted behind his back . He was drunk and he slapped me in the face . I was shocked , then furious . I told him to leave . But then he raped me . Later , I learned that his wife had died . Then he quit coming to see me . At first , he just stayed away a few days . Then he 'd come and apologize and everything would be nice . But he 'd get drunk and he 'd drag me to the bed . Along about this time I began to realize that something was wrong . I wasn 't having my monthlies any more . I went to Ma Ling and she told me that she could help me get rid of my problem , but I was scared . I didn 't want to do it . And when Mr . St . Ives started coming back it wasn 't long before he found out . That was big trouble then . He was sure the baby wasn 't his , but I told him it had to be his . I don 't think he believed me . He just quit coming by . Ma Ling was so kind . She got the mid - wife to come to me when it was my time . And after the baby was born she would come and show me how to take care of it … my little Deborah , a beautiful , beautiful child . But she warned me . Mr . St . Ives would never , never accept my child . He would throw me out on the street , she said . And sure enough , by and by some men came and said I had to leave the house . What could I do ? Mr . St . Ives never came around . I didn 't know how to get in touch with him , even . But the men came and told me to pack up my clothes and they took me up to Ma Ling 's . Ma Ling was kind , but she said now I 'd have to go to work . I was old enough , she said . But she could not take in the baby . It was no place for a child . The other girls were on my side and pleaded with her . They all loved little Deborah . But Ma Ling said she didn 't dare keep the child . Mr . St . Ives would be angry and there was no telling what he would do . And I thought to myself , it was like King Herod and the innocent children of Bethlehem , like I 'd read in the Bible . The hardest thing I ever did was write to my Mama in Texas and tell her the whole truth . Mama and old Mrs . St . Ives came up a week later . There was a terrible to - do , my Mama told me , when Mrs . St . Ives and Mr . St . Ives got in an argument . In the end , though , Mama and Mrs . St . Ives took Deborah back to Texas with them . That was the last time I ever saw my Mama . But she took good care of Deborah and Mrs . St . Ives paid for her to go to school , for which I am grateful and give thanks to the Lord . Later : some problems here . Originally , I 'd heard that Sissa and Mason were only betrothed . Then I heard that they had been married by a Baptist preacher in Centerville . - B . S . Sissa says she did marry Mason . She says the baby was his , but she foolishly thought that it would be better if St . Ives thought Deborah was his , that he wouldn 't harm the child and might even provide for her . Her biggest mistake , she says . I wonder if she even knows who the father was . - B . S . I showed ms . to Sissa . Possibly mistake . She admits she left some things out . I think especially about the incidents around the marriage . I found a marriage license recorded in Whitehall ! But didn 't say anything to Sissa . Q ? When could baby have been conceived ? Insists the baby , Deborah , was Mason 's child . Says she was pregnant when St . Ives moved her to the house on Walleye St . - B . S . Nov . 36 - She has seen Deborah ! Beautiful girl , in college , it seems . St . Ives was away , on trip to Chile . Sissa went to Chicago , met D . I agree to act as her postman . - B . S . JON A . JACKSON is the author of the Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mysteries . He tells us about himself and his novel - in - progress , Not So Dead : " I was born in Detroit before WW2 , then spent my early years on a farm upstate in Michigan , before the family returned to the big city . I served in the Air Force mainly in the Detroit area and went to college there . Eventually , I moved to Montana and I 'm still here , more than forty years later . But Detroit is still present in my mind … in fact , that Detroit only exists in my mind , now . But I have a great love for Montana and this novel , as well as its precursor , Go By Go [ Dennis McMillan Publications , 1998 ] , are set in the unique western city of Butte , a kind of alpine Detroit , previously exploited by Hammett in Red Harvest . I 'm hoping to publish this Butte novel before too much longer . " Share this : TwitterFacebookLike this : Like Loading . . . This entry was posted in Fiction and tagged American Fiction , Butte , Contrappasso Magazine , Detective Sergeant Mulheisen , Go by Go sequel , historical fiction , Jon A . Jackson , Montana , Mulheisen , Not So Dead , novel extract , prostitution , short story , Singletree , Sissa . Bookmark the permalink . ISSUE 8Interview with F . H . Batacan ; fiction by Roberto Arlt , Andrea Pasion - Flores , Rick DeMarinis , Kent Harrington ; Morris Lurie tribute ; poetry by Alicia Aza , Blanca Castellón , Geng Xiang , Lu Ye , Mary MacPherson , Sascha Morrel , Frank Russo , Floyd Salas , Paolo Totaro , and more . WRITERS AT THE MOVIESEssays by Luc Sante , Sarah Berry , Richard Lowenstein , Richard Hugo , Clive Sinclair , Michael Eaton , Jon Lewis , Anthony May ; fiction by Barry Gifford ; poetry by Michael Atkinson , R . Zamora Linmark , and James Franco ; and interviews with Jonathan Rosenbaum , Emmanuel Mouret , Scott Simmon , and Richard Misek . Edited by Noel King & Matthew Asprey Gear . ISSUE 6Interviews with Judith Beveridge , Lawrence Block and Jose Dalisay . New fiction by Mitsuyo Kakuta , Álvaro Bisama , Jon A . Jackson and R . Zamora Linmark . Poetry by Elizabeth Smither , Iain Britton and Stephen Oliver , Flora Delalande , Penny Florence , Ouyang Yu , Richard James Allen , Stuart Barnes , Jamie Grant , Siobhan Hodge , Frank Russo and Les Wicks . NOIR ISSUEA grab - bag of essays , interviews , and classic and new noir poetry . Contributors include : Luc Sante , Suzanne Lummis , Nicholas Christopher , Barry Gifford , Morris Lurie , Dahlia Schweitzer & Toby Miller , Andrew Nette . Interviews with Dennis McMillan and Adrian Wootton . Edited by Matthew Asprey & Noel King . Other EBOOK formats @ RT @ MatthewAsprey : My new novella , ' Lewis L ' Amour ' , available as a free ebook in all formats for a limited time . Enjoy . https : / / t . co / 04ysQO … 7 months ago