Raven had been living with and working for Jacob for nearly two months. For the first week, he spoke to her, only to give her instructions of what chores to do that day, avoiding any eye contact with her. During the first night, while eating a dinner of left over beef stew, Raven asked him a question, calling him by his first name. Even though he introduced himself as Jacob in the barn, he told her sternly, "Raven, you will call me Mr. Warren. It is not appropriate for slaves to call masters by their first names. Do you understand?" Looking down at the floor she nodded her head yes. Jacob felt bad, but felt he had to bring things back to a professional level. He felt awkward about being so forward in touching her that first day. He had been contemplating in his mind about taking her there and then in the barn, but thought of how it would frighten her. Raven had already been kidnapped from her home and forced into slavery. Jacob didn't want to make her life more miserable than it was already. The next week he softened up a bit and decided it wouldn't hurt to at least strike up some conversations with her. After all, he was the only person she saw day in and day out and probably got sick of having to hear her own thoughts.
Raven was relieved to finally have a conversation with another human being. She missed her family, friends, church members and students. Her sister was set to marry in only a month and Raven realized she would never see her siblings first born child, let alone know his or her name. Though she wished herself home each day, she began to find herself liking Jacob more and more. He was cold the first week, but had warmed up immensely. He never raised a hand to her and was always kind. Often he would pick her up something while at work in town. So far he had gotten her new dresses, nightgowns, undergarments, shoes, soaps, razors, clips for her hair and several books. He was a kind man, and she could only imagine what her life would be like if another person had purchased her that day. Certainly it would be more like the typical slave stories she had heard about while living in New England.
As Raven stood at the stove, mashing the potatoes for dinner that night, she thought back to a couple of weeks before. He had actually kissed her. She found herself replaying it in her mind nearly every day since it had happened. He had come home during the middle of the day and she was outside feeding the chickens. Jacob approached her and nonchalantly began talking about the weather. He asked her how her morning had been thus far. After she finished speaking, he was silent for a few moments before blurting out how beautiful he thought she looked that morning and then leaned forward to softly kiss her on the lips. Raven was shocked for a moment and stood still. However, she relaxed as he gently began to rub her side. Tentatively, she brought her arms up around his neck. His tongue licked her bottom lip, and then made its way inside her mouth kissing her deeply. Spanning her waist, his hands then went lower to cup her backside, squeezing it through the dress. Raven moaned, rubbing her hands through his thick hair. They stayed that way, kissing for several minutes until Jacob pulled away. He gave her an excuse about having to get back to work and then left in a hurry. After that, he acted like nothing had happened that afternoon, as did she.
