Stories from Paradise: Libby Bell - Day One

Libby Bell stood at the end of the road looking at a new world. For the first time in her life, she saw Black people everywhere she looked. But not just any Black people, these folks were different. They were alive, thriving, living as if they didn’t know… another life. Another type of life. It was as though they’d never suffered. 

And Libby had suffered. 

She’d walked miles to get here, a hundred, a million, who knew. But she’d heard tell of a place where she could live and not die and Lord knows she needed it. She needed a place to grow and breathe and try her hand at being again. Though her back ached and her feet were tired, she didn’t stop until she got here. But now what?

“You should stop by the big house first.” 

Libby turned to see a smiling light brown man, his eyes the color of mud. His skin glowed like a man who loved the sun in a romantic way, the heat an old friend instead of a staunch enemy. For so long the light it’d provided broke her heart upon waking. The beams of a new day meant hard work and skin hot to the touch and eyes so blind some days she wondered if she’d ever see again. She envied him, this man with the easy smile and easy relationship. She felt fingers of jealousy wrap around her heart, but before they could squeeze, he took her hand and guided her up the path.

“Th-thank you,” she stammered. She never stammered. Libby was clear and concise and sure. Why had she stammered?

“No problem. I stood there just like you when I got here. I know what you’re thinking. Now what? You walk all this way, you finally get here and now what?” He laughed. “It’s not like there’s any signs, ain’t no front desk to check in at.”

They passed thousands of people; all Black, all glowing like the man that held her hand as though they were old lovers out on a stroll. 

“What’s your name?” Her voice was still shaking; she still didn’t know why.

“Redford Brown, but everyone calls me Red. You?”
“Libbett Bell, but my family calls me Libby.”

“What should I call you?”

She looked in his eyes, some of her old certainty seeping back into her veins.

“Libby is just fine.” 

He smiled his easy smile again. 

“Well Libby, welcome to Paradise.”