Prologue:
There is someone somewhere reading this story and can relate to this entirely in one way or another. I really hope that anyone who reads this can understand the gist of this. This story is designed to teach people how to be respectful of others and be mindful.
I am asking all nosy people without any good intension to mind their own business and stop picking fights with people you do not know. Some of these ordeals are racially motivated and done out of pure jealousy and hatred. You may not know the background of the person you pick a fight with or do nosy things to. So ask yourself how you would feel if you woke up with your mouth sewed shut and stuffed with cotton balls.
The back story on Gertrude and why she was so horrible and racist comes from her formal residence in Mississippi and eventually landing in Ipswich, MA. Back in her time during her early 20’s her racist father used to hunt for Black boys and girls and murder them. She grew up in a very racist family and an area that consisted of only white folks. Seeing her father bring terrified black folks into his back yard was a form of entertainment for her. One day she had the opportunity to copy her father and try her hand at luring a black male into her yard. She somehow convinced him that she could help him with his horse, he believed her after several minutes to coaxing him along. As soon as he stepped closer, she shouted at the very top of her lungs that he was trying to hurt her and that she feared for her life. The bearded men rushed out with shotguns in hand and murdered him with his horse before he could even say anything. They shot him all over his body to the point where he was unrecognizable to his family. She went back home and was applauded by her father and his friends for luring a black guy in to get killed. For many years, she went on doing this until she met her match.
There was a family from the Islands driving through and needed some gas for their car and Gertrude was under the impression that she would get to experience the thrill again. Boy was she wrong. She darted her eyes in their direction from her lousy lawn chair and yard until they quickly glanced in her direction. Her eyes locked with the younger man in the hat and that’s where it all began. They had a black pride flag hanging from their car as they quickly made their way in and out of the store as they’d all felt uneasy with her staring them down so heavily. When she realized they weren’t interested in saying or even breathing in her direction, she decided to shout out racial slurs. At first, they continued stretching their limbs before continuing to drive but the swears and the direction of the hostility began intense almost immediately. The young men surrounded the car and looked at her uneasily. Finally, she started throwing rocks from the yard as hard as she could in their direction. Their gas tank still wasn’t filled and they weren’t moving until they got their money’s worth. After the third rock was thrown, a black woman calmly came out of the backseat of the car. She was a tall black woman wearing a brightly colored dress with her dreadlocks tied up carefully. She wore bright red lipstick and her eyes were a clear jet black and she directed her attention at the rock throwing fool.
With her heavy Island accent, she shouted at Gertrude so loudly, she stopped halfway through tossing another large rock and let it drop to her feet.
“Put that rock down and go sit the hell down, you stupid girl!”
Gertrude would naturally spew hateful retorts but suddenly couldn’t speak or move from her seat after being instructed to sit.
“Do you have any idea what the hell you’re getting yourself into? You better stop that shit!”
No remark from Gertrude. Nothing but a weakened head shake and slumped shoulders. The color in her face drained instantly after their eyes locked. This woman’s voice sent ice-burg like chills all over Gertrude’s sweaty body. She was frozen in sudden fear and felt the urge to run for her life but couldn’t get her feet to move. The space between Gertrude and the woman closed in. She stopped at an arm’s distance and got a good look at Gertrude’s face before slowly retreating. The men in Gertrude’s background also felt that super cold shift in temperature, suddenly felt sick.
Several months later after that incident, her extremely racist father woke up to an unexplainable mystery of his lips sewed shut and moth stuffed with cotton. His friends woke up to snakes in their bed and or finding tubs full of blood surrounding their house. A lot of mysterious and horrifying things were suddenly happening to Gertrude’s family and only them. No one else in the area experienced what they had. They were hearing scary high-pitched voices startle them out of the blue as nothing seemed normal after she’d thrown rocks at the family driving.
Gertrude decided that she certainly wasn’t going to remain in Mississippi and relocate to Massachusetts where she thought everything was going to be better. Gertrude was under the impression that she would never see another black face again if she’d moved up north.
When she moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, her neighbor Jenny was a black woman but she hadn’t met her yet. Gertrude assumed off of the area she lived in and the name, she was another white person that she could quickly befriend. When Jenny’s door flew open, she asked Jenny if the owner of the apartment was there. When she found out that Jenny owned that space, she snatched back her baked goods and retreated to her house within seconds.
Unbothered by the new neighbor, Jenny calmly closed her door and returned to her project and continued typing.
The following morning, Jenny was awaken by wild yelling from across the hall in her building. It was her new neighbor shouting about how she hates black people and so much more. Still, Jenny had a job to get to and was obviously unbothered by Gertrude. Just as long as Gertrude stayed in her lane, all well. When Jenny went to work or elsewhere, Gertrude would stand behind her neighbor’s door to hear if someone else was there or what she was doing. Sometimes, she would stand outside of the window with binoculars and spy into Jenny’s apartment. Gertie couldn’t find anything in particular to get her neighbor booted from the predominantly white neighborhood. Jenny would have cookouts with close friends and no loud music, Gertie would either sneak in and steal food off the table when no one was looking or call the cops to stop their fun. Jenny made no issues of the behavior. She simply took the party into her house and used the George Foreman grill to cook for her guests.
**This is purely a fictional story that could very well be true for someone reading this and also based off of true life experiences.**
Once upon a time there was a young black woman living in Massachusetts. To be exact, she lived in Ipswich, MA. She went to college and everything that was expected of her…or not.
This was just an ordinary person living amongst millions minding her own business. She got herself an apartment instead of a house. She drove an ordinary car that got her around to her destinations. She was a very productive person that would consider saving gas and not struggling for parking by using the commuter rail system into Boston.
She led a close to drama free life. But with a large family, that was difficult to avoid. These were honestly great people with obviously different temperaments. She loved her family but also appreciated her distance for mental clarity as well. Each person in her family had an attitude she took interest in from the time they were all living in one household.
She had a blind sister who was a few years younger that worried her. Her sister was incredibly skilled in traveling and writing. She suspects her sister travels for writing adventures and that’s okay. Her concern was the rough areas she ventured off to. Was she going to be okay? Were people going to treat her well? Did she arrive and return safe? She needs to answer her damn phone! But she’ll call back later to let folks know she is fine.
Another was her self-defense skills that scared big sister. Hopefully nobody bothers her and ends up in a stretcher or worse. Little sister can be rough and not really mean to. Something with her nerves that causes her to be rougher than usual. Little sister accidentally tore a metal door off the hinges when she was rushing for no real reason.
She texts her sister to slow down.
Little sister responds quickly as she’s fluent in adaptive technology.
After connecting with her sister and checking on her, she returns to her life in Ipswich.
Jenny has a neighbor who always knocks on her door to complain about scents or small noises from her house. It seems like anything that comes from her house is a problem.
Jenny is not a drug dealer and certainly is too sophisticated for any mess she’s accused of. Jenny works a full-time job and is barely home. What could this homebound neighbor possibly want from her?
Some lonely middle-aged women with a dark soul infused with racism is always lurking around Jenny’s door whether she is home or not.
Gertrude suggested Jenny move out because she doesn’t like her black skin or cooking smell.
Gertrude was this pale faced hag who sang old slave songs outside of Jenny’s door. Jenny’s sister Maxi visited and she decided to do something regretfully cruel. Only because she was blind, Gertrude decided to snatch Maxi’s cane and hurl it into the street. Maxi with all of her strength practically crammed her whole fist down Gertie’s mouth. She ejected her dentures and tossed them as well. Maxi forgot she’d had Gertrude by the throat, Jenny appeared and saw an old purple & blue face struggling for air on her knees.
It had been months since that incident took place.
After verbally abusing her innocent neighbor and getting her teeth snatched, she went to bed alone in a dark and dusty room.
One morning, Gertrude woke up with her mouth mysteriously sewed shut and stuffed with cotton. The cotton she sang about in her slave songs used to harass Jenny. She looked down below her and saw her toes webbed and sewed together as well. She extended her hands and found webbed and sewed fingers but her thumbs were free.
Jenny had been on vacation to Chicago for a few weeks since the incident.
Gertrude left behind in a panicking fury heard dark whispers and hisses saying, “oh you’re lucky we didn’t sew your eyes and butthole closed too…” and she panicked. No one can hear her muffled scream for help.
She glanced in the corner of her poorly lit room and saw a little black girl. She appeared to be from the days of slavery. She wore a clean dress and a clean white mask. On the front of her dress was an orange apron. The girl’s mask covered her eyes and mouth but not her chin. Around the eyes of the mask had black spots outlining the eyes. The mouth portion was outlined up to the ears, had sewing thread on the mouth too. It looked almost skeletal and ghostly.
The girl launched her body in Gertrude’s direction and burst into a thick dark cloud of smoke releasing a strong scent of despair and death.
The smell had filled Gertrude’s nose and lingered heavily.
She opened her eyes that were red and full of tears to find old rusty scissors. She grabbed them as best as her sewed hands allowed, cut the threading from her lips. Each snip was a stinging pain. Each clip equaled to every slur to her neighbor that never bothered her. Painful clips that nipped the skin of her old un-moisturized thin lips.
When her lips were free, a cloud of dust escaped her toothless mouth. The cotton balls slipped from her mouth one chunk at a time.
She set her fingers free. Each clip was a painful reminder of the unnecessary trouble she caused someone who didn’t look like her. Her finger webs bled down her wrists when she finished.
Jenny was away in Chicago and never wasted a moment of thought on her hateful neighbor. She was enjoying her vacation time with her loved ones.
Maxi was on her way to Dètroit MI for a week of poetry slams which meant none of them had absolutely no idea what had happened.
When they’d returned to Jenny’s house, Gertrude was on the front steps waiting. Blisters healing around her lips and fingers as she glared at them approaching without blinking. Two marvelous black women approaching caused her to scramble and run inside after shouting racist slurs again.
As Gertrude slammed her door shut, she clasped a blistered hand over her mouth and found the sewing back again!
Moral of this is to mind your business and stop mistreating people especially if they did nothing to you. Maybe you wouldn’t find your mouth sewed closed.
Photo description:
A photo of an up close color drawing of a pair of lips with threading going through. A pair of sewed lips with red lipstick and pale skin.
