09 Jun The Story of Angela Green (Part 1)
This is a story. A story about a woman. A woman that had the world at her feet and soon, lost it all. Lost it to the people of kindness. The people that she never was. While she was out spending thousands of dollars and partying, they were trying to mend the crack going straight through the world. The woman that had gems and gold hanging from her ears, neck, and curling around her wrists and fingers. The woman that took the world for granted. The woman who represents the people we should never want to be.
It all started on April 4th, 1865, on a sunny day. The baby that was born that day should have been just like the weather, cheerful and bright. She was beautiful. But the feature that flowed through her was one of which you would be mortified to see. From the moment she left her mother’s stomach, she was already ordering everyone around and screaming if they didn’t do of which she was asking. Her mother and father, of course, were quite proud that their daughter, their small daughter, was as demanding as her father. He father, you see, was apart of a very important council at the Richmond bank. In fact, he was the leader. But, apart from all the good things he did, he could never take away from the bad things he did. The mother had no job and spent a portion of the money that the father made having parties and wearing the most expensive clothes. They decided to name their daughter Angela Belle Green. And of course, she was raised by a nanny. Juanita Fernandez.
Juanita was a gentlewoman and she did as she was told, even when Angela was misbehaving. She bathed her, changed her clothes, fed her put her to sleep every night and sometimes played with her. Though Juanita never shared it, she had a lovely voice and would often sing to Angela to get her to sleep every night.
When Angela was 8, her mother fired Juanita. This devastated Angela. Juanita was like a mother to her. She would take Juanita over her mother. Perhaps that choice would be different if her own mother had raised her. Then, Angela decided to run away. In her dreams, she ran all the way from Richmond, Virginia, all the way to North Carolina. She would stay in her room all day formulating a plan for her escape. But sadly, to cheer her up, her mother threw a party for her. That night, if she had run away, she wouldn’t end up like she sadly did.
There, at the party, Angela looked like a mini version of her mother. Loaded with jewelry, hair put neatly into a ballerina bun, and dressed like a very wealthy woman. She was wearing a lavender dress, made of silk, that went down to her ankles. She was wearing a lace belt, around her waist. A hat, just like her mother’s. Plum purple and decorated with feathers, flowers, and beads. Her shoes, dark as the night sky, with little blue butterflies on the tips. Her wrists were decorated with bead bracelets and beautiful silver earrings hung from her ear lobes. She had one ring. A ring that if it caught the moonlight, it glowed like a million stars in the night sky. It was shaped like a crescent moon.
She walked down the auburn-colored floor grand staircase. Smiling at her family’s friends and cousins. Then, all of a sudden, she tripped.
A lady musent’ trip. What will mother think of me? she thought endlessly.
It just makes it worse that I am dressed like this! Oh, I am surely doomed! She kept thinking.
Then, a boy caught her. She hadn’t seen this boy before. He had blue eyes, much like hers, and combed black hair.
“Would you like to dance,” the boy with the black hair said.
“Yes, yes I would.,” Angela said back.
And so they did. But Angela didn’t really know who this boy was and what plans her parents had for her.
You’d probably think that she didn’t have any friends, but she was about to meet one.
Oliver Newman was a simple boy whose father was the shoemaker of Richmond and his mother was a jewelry maker. He had seen Angela Green when they were four, running through a meadow of flowers, giggling. He had decided that he loved her from the moment he saw her. But, the thing was, she had no idea who he was! He decided to go sit in the meadow and watch the birds fly and bunnies hop. He expected to see the monarch butterflies flying from flower to flower. What he didn’t expect was seeing Angela Green there, running and laughing as she did when he saw her last. But, this time, they were older. He was almost 10 and he was pretty sure she was nine. He gathered up some courage and decided to go sit in his favorite spot anyway. He expected the bees to buzz past him. What he didn’t expect was for Angela Green to come up to him.
Oh, what will she think of me? Do I look silly? I can’t believe that she’s actually walking up to me! Is my hair combed?
She was carrying a basket with a kitten in it. A little black one with white paws, a white muzzle and a little bit of white on her tail.
“Hello,” she said.
“I’ve never seen you before,” she said again, “My name is Angela Belle Green. What’s yours?”
“I… um….my name is…. Oliver James Newman,” he stumbled.
“Oh, I know your father,” she said excitedly, “He’s the shoemaker, right?”
“Yes,” Oliver answered.
“Amazing! This is Princess, my cat! She’s a stinker, but I love her!” Angela said once again.
Oliver looked at her left hand. On her middle finger was a ring. A ring shaped like a crescent moon.
“Where’d you get that?’’ Oliver asked.
“Oh, this? My mom gave it to me! She said she got it from this nice lady who makes jewelry. I think she goes by Jane Elsie.
That was his mother. That wasn’t surprising. His mother loved the moon.
“That’s my mother,” Oliver responded.
“Oh, neat!” Angela said back.
He could tell that she meant it. They sat down and talked for about an hour or so. Later, Angela said to him that she had to go home for supper. Supper! He had totally forgotten! He told her goodbye and raced home. When he got home, he quietly shut the door behind him.
What a day. What a fantastic day, he thought to himself.
When Angela got home she ran to her room and got her supper outfit on. It was a baby blue, it had a collar with a handkerchief on it, it cut off at her arms, and the skirt part went down a little past her knees. Her hair was in a braid so it wouldn’t get near her food. She walked out of her room and down the hallway to the banquet room. When she got there, she saw her mother, father, and little brother and sisters. She could see the impatience in her mother’s eyes.
Of course, she is angry. I am late for dinner, of course. This is not how a lady would act. I just have a feeling that Oliver would smile at me when I walked into the room. Ah, he is so sweet.
“ Hello, honey,” said her mother, her eyes full of question.
“Yes, where were you today, hon,” said her father.
“Oh, nowhere really,” Angela lied.
“Okay,” her mother said.
“Honey? You remember George Vanderbilt?” asked her father.
“No,” Angela said, “who’s he?”
“Oh, honey. The sweet, attractive boy you danced with at the party!” cried her mother, shaking her head.
“Oh, him,” said Angela while she picked at her stake with a fork.
“We are having the Vanderbilts over for dinner tomorrow night,” her father said.
“Oh, that’s… great, I guess,” Angela said.
“Can I invite some people?” Angela asked.
“I don’t see why not?” her father said, “Charlotte?”
“Sure,” her mother said.
“Thank you!” Angela cried.
When they were done with dinner, Angela ran up to her room. She was going to send out two invitations. The first one to Oliver. The second one to her old friend, Edith Stuyvesant. She was excited!
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