Washington Black

Titch needs one more thing to begin his experiment: workers. He and Wash visit the Great House to ask Erasmus for spare slaves. They wait in the hall a long time, and Titch grows irritable until Gaius comes out to tell him that Erasmus is occupied that afternoon. Titch ignores this and strides into the house with Wash in tow.

As Titch and Wash walk deeper into the house, Wash spots Émilie cleaning. At first he doesn’t recognize her, because of her rounded belly pushing against her scullery clothes. Wash is shocked—Émilie is just 11, and he is horrified that the father might be any man on the land, even Erasmus. He is overcome with sadness. Titch asks Émilie where Erasmus is, and she deliberately glances at an open door.

Titch and Wash walk through the door to find Erasmus pressing a cotton blue shirt. Wash is amazed to see Erasmus engaged in such a low labor. Titch makes a snide comment about how “pressing” Erasmus’s business is before asking to have 15 men for a week or two to help him transport and assemble the Cloud-cutter on Corvus peak. Erasmus says that he can’t spare that many men, even noting that Wash is his property and he is already sparing his labor.

Erasmus agrees to spare 10 men at the end of their workday, but Titch points out that they need time to rest and that it would be dangerous to work in the dark. Titch says that he will accept 9 men, but that they must be spared from all other duties. Erasmus agrees, annoyed at Titch’s persistence.

Erasmus brings up another matter: that five nights earlier, he received a letter that their cousin Philip is coming to Kingston. Titch reacts as though a ghost is coming to visit them. Erasmus recalls how morose Philip is, and he hopes that Philip doesn’t kill himself while he is there. Wilde asks for Titch to pick Philip up in Bridge Town when he arrives, and for Titch to lodge him. Titch agrees, and having settled the matters, Erasmus asks to continue with his day uninterrupted.

The following morning, Erasmus’s nine sickliest slaves show up. Titch gives them a day’s rest and a good meal so they can regain their strength, and the following morning, they begin cutting a trail to the base of the Peak and up the mountain, constructing a rough pulley system for hauling heavy objects. Titch works with them while Wash conducts some of Titch’s ongoing experiments.

Wash asks one of the men—Black Jim—if Big Kit has any “secret missives” for him. Jim stares back with dark eyes, and Wash realizes that, to Jim, Wash must sound and act like a white man—even more than Gaius or Émilie. He feels pained and rejected.

The day Philip arrives, Wash feels dread, realizing that another white master in the house will likely change his and Titch’s dynamic. On the way to pick Philip up, Wash asks if Philip is very bad, and Titch assures him that Philip is a decent person, just a very melancholy one.

As the carriage approaches Bridge Town, Wash looks out the carriage and takes in the city, which he has never visited before. He is amazed to see street musicians, fish markets, and enormous windmills. Wash looks at everything greedily, wanting to hold it in his mind to draw it later.

When the carriage arrives at the boardwalk, Titch gets out to fetch Philip. When the men return together, Wash observes that Philip is fat, and he looks cautious and skeptical. Wash instructs the porters where to set Philip’s trunks before scrambling into the carriage. Titch introduces Wash as his assistant, and Philip scoffs at Wash’s name. Titch explains that Richard Black named some of the slaves very strangely: Immanuel after Kant, Émilie after Émilie du Châtelet. Hearing Émilie’s name, Wash realizes that he hasn’t seen Émilie in weeks—he wonders where she might have gone, knowing that he would likely never see her again.

Titch and Philip talk some about their family, and Titch notes that Erasmus wasn’t able to pick up Philip because he’s away dealing with business on another plantation. Philip then makes fun of Titch for being more interested in science than in women and beauty. He also tells Titch that his mother sorely misses him.

As the carriage rolls through Broad Street, Wash notices several slaves in cages. He knows that these slaves are runaways, and they’ll likely be maimed and returned to their masters, or else killed outright. He thinks that he must look like “a dark apparition of a boy gliding by in his fine service linens” to them. Commenting on the dreary view, Philip wonders how Titch can tolerate Barbados.

Over the next few days, Wash observes Philip, who is often in a somber mood. Philip accompanies Titch and Wash on their collecting expeditions, attempting to hunt with a shotgun. He also eats a lot, sleeps late, and speaks little to Wash beyond soft commands. One day, however, when he sees Wash’s drawings, Philip warns Titch about putting ideas in a slave’s head.

Despite Philip’s mildness, Wash is constantly afraid of him. Philip often critiques Wash’s cooking, instructing him to use less salt and ginger, but he never attacks Wash. He often seems startled or disgusted by the slaves in the fields. Over the weeks, Wash’s fear eases, and he even draws sketches of Philip asleep in a chair in the sitting room. These are Wash’s most vivid sketches, infused with a tenderness that he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t show them to anyone and burns them each night.