Part Two: Polly Summary

In the opening of Polly's first section, it is made very clear that Polly doesn't like Negroes. She doesn't like the way they look, doesn't like the way they talk, and certainly doesn't like the way that they work for free, making it impossible for a girl like her to make a living. Polly is an indentured servant whose indenture was sold to Mr. Percival Derby for the next fourteen years. Today, she has joined Mr. Derby at the slave auction where he intends to purchase a young slave as a sixteenth-birthday present for his son, Clay. He purchases Amari. The auctioneer offers Mr. Derby Amari's "mother," Afi, but Mr. Derby refuses. Polly watches as Mr. Derby yanks Amari off the auction stage and throws her, weeping, into his wagon. Another one of the slaves, Noah, helps tie Amari...