The Story Of Ms. Gertie King : A Heartwarming and Gripping Post Civil War Era Southern Plantation Family Saga Set in the Deep South of Mobile, Alabama ... (The Bentley Family Adventures Book 4)

Ya'll, let me tell you my story!Glad you could find your way here, and I welcome you to the Sellers Plantation here in the deep south of Mobile, Alabama. I'm anxious to get started with my story tellin,' so, I'm sharin' a little bout the story that I be tellin' to ya'll down below.When I wuz born, I be given the name Gertrude Ida Rollins, but as I be growin' folks just be callin' me Ms. Gertie. I wuz born in Mobile, Alabama in the year eighteen and eighty-eight. Yes, that be a long time ago for most of ya'll, but I thinks it be good to be learnin' bout the history that be comin' before you were born. The days of slavery wuz twenty years in the past, but for most folks of color, not much had changed in terms of treatment by wealthy plantation owners here in the deep south.My story is gonna takes you on a journey through my experiences from when I be a small child up to when I became a young woman. I’ll be sharin’ with ya’ll the trials I faced for bein’ colored, which always set my little heart to racing, but I’ll also be tellin’ you bout the joys I wuz to know through singin;' which be somethin' I've always loved to do since I be real small. My love for singin’ began when I be usin' my boomin’ voice to sing out the ol' southern gospels in my Granddaddy Isaiah’s church every Sunday. That’s right, Ms. Gertie’s gonna take ya’ll to church, cuz it be one of my favorite places to be.Ya'll will also be meetin' three amazingly strong women which be my Mama Cecilia, Granny Mabel, and her best friend Mama Hall. They all were highly responsible for shapin’ my life in a very profound way. Specially when it came to sharin’ their secret family recipes so’s I could learn to cook which I be lovin' to do since I be small, and teachin’ me bout becomin’ a woman; which be a time in my life that I be findin' real awkward and highly confusin.'Throughout my life, I wuz to learn that within the same family which be the Sellers, that you could witness evil and hate, or love and respect; dependin’ on the family member that you be encounterin.' Be sure to pay close attention, cuz der will also be a mystery of sorts that involves ol' Mister Joe, the evil overseer whom everyone greatly despised. I know you'll be wantin' to figure things out; but it's one mystery I neva found me an answer to yet.For those that be lovin’ em’ a love story, I'll be throwin' in a little romance down the way, but I'm savin' that for later, cuz that be a real special part of my story.I can tells you this, I likes to talk in a loud boomin' voice, so don't be afraid none if'n I gets excited from time to time with the tellin' of my story. All I can be sayin' for now is that der is gonna be situations that make you bust out laughin,' then cryin' cuz you be feelin' sad, and other parts of the story that will has you scratchin' your head in wonder.I just sat down on my front porch, I’m in my favorite rockin' chair with a cup of hot black coffee in my hand, and I’m ready to do me some story-tellin.’ So, grab you a nice cold glass of sweet tea or lemonade if’n that’s what you prefer, sit on back, and let me tell you my story. You can trust that I be knowin’ how to tell ya'll a good story, I has been tellin’ stories my whole life, and if’n I do say so myself, my story be a real good one!We be startin' at the beginin,' it be my fourth birthday, and I wuz real excited bout havin' me some chocolate cake that my Granny Mabel be makin' for my party. I be thinkin' that everybody loves dem some cake, right? (Further on in my life after this story be told, I became famous for my chocolate cakes, and strangely enough the mention of my cakes be savin' a young man's life. But that be another story for another day.)I has a whole lot of years to get through that I hope ya'll will find mighty interestin,' so it's time for us to be gettin' started!Let's begin...