First Interview With Freddie Mae

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I called Gramps today and requested an interview, telling her about this blog and its purpose. She can be quite the embarrassed school girl when all eyes are on her. She was pleased to answer my questions, questions I was surprised I'd never asked before.

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Me: Do you know if you are a direct descendant of slaves?



Gramps: I heard my mama's mama and daddy were slaves but I ain't sho. I'm pretty sho they were. Jean's [her youngest daughter of 13 children] daddy's mama and daddy were slaves, I know that. There was a lot of white men taking slaves as girlfriends. That's why we got so many light skin Black people.



Me: Yes, that's true.



Gramps: It felt like we were slaves growing up. They rationed food when mama went to the store.



Me: Did they ration food for everyone, or just Blacks?



Gramps: I can't remember.



Me: How did you get the idea to start selling alcohol from your home?



Gramps: I didn't get the idea. Joy's [another daughter] husband told me "you getcha some beer and liquor and I'll bring you some customers." I needed money real bad to fix my house up. The livin' room was just to' up. The kitchen was bad. I just needed money bad. That night my house was packed. I made so much money. I never stopped.



Me: What did you do to make money before that?



Gramps: I worked! I was a cook at the Lakeview hotel for 12 years. Befo' that I worked at the Motor Court for 5 years. And befo' that I picked cotton in the fields.



Me: You picked cotton and got paid for it?



Gramps: Oh yea'. I picked 100 pounds of cotton by noon. I would go home for lunch then go back and pick another 100 pounds of cotton by 5. Mama took care of my kids for me while I worked. I would wash diapers on my lunch break and refill baby bottles.



Me: Tell me what jumpstarted your interest in fishing, please.



Gramps: I always loved to fish. I started after Henretta [lesbian daughter, really named Henrietta] was born. It was all we had to back then. We didn't have no tv. All we did was go to the creek and fish. I would feed the kids then go fish. Come back home and eat some corn bread and milk then go back and fish.


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Coming: an introduction to the interesting people in Freddie's life.