Pearl Hayes

**Pearl Lynette Hayes** is the protagonist of *Before the Storm*. As a former slave and fierce abolitionist, she is not afraid to fight against for other people's freedom during the Antebellum era, a time period with slavery set as a standard in the Southern United States.

Her quiet life as a Georgian farm girl is dispelled with the arrival of two men in her town one summer during the late 1830's and she becomes involved in a fight far greater than she could have imagined.

## Early Life

Pearl was born on Greenville Plantation in Georgia, into slavery following her parents' status. The master of the plantation, Mr Burk, had freed all the slaves in his will, lest the plantation be passed onto his only remaining relative he detested. In addition, he sadistically expected that his slaves would starve within a week without a master. Following his death, his predictions were somewhat accurate. Some of his former slaves had starved, others had been taken by nearby plantation owners and others had died fighting over the land. However, some of them, including Pearl and her parents, had settled in the secluded and hilly areas of the plantation, where the land was too unlevel to farm.

Pearl's peaceful life was shattered when slaves from the neighbouring plantation rebelled and fled into the hills where her and her family were staying. The white men who were hunting for the fugitive slaves had passed by their small farm and mistook Pearl's father for one of the slaves, thus lynching him. Since then, Pearl and her mother had been living on the farm, trying to grow crops as well as raising chickens and making a living from selling eggs to the local townspeople.

### *Before the Storm*

On a hot summer day in Georgia, Pearl went to Mama Dumant's brothel to sell eggs from her farm only to see that the place was in a state of shock after seeing the new tenant, Mr Ambrose. After going to the back to sell eggs to Mama Dumant did she learn about the source of commotion, much to her unimpressed reaction. Pearl headed home to her farm and while preparing for dinner, heard a sound. Grabbing a cudgel, she went to investigate it and saw someone heading towards the shed. She followed him and told the stranger to leave. He stalked towards her and pulled out a knife, lunging at her. She dodged and a fight commenced, both trying to attack the other with their own respective weapons. Pearl ultimately gained the upper hand and barely managed to knock him unconscious twice. She was about to tie him up when she noticed scars on his wrists from wearing chains. Sighing, she dropped the rope and hurled cold water on him.

He woke up and assumed a defencive stance to which Pearl risked lowering her weapon and showing him her wrists– wrists that bore similar scars to his from the chains she had worn as a slave. He pulled her in for a big hug and when she stepped away, realised that he could not speak English when she spoke to him. They still were able to introduce themselves to each other and she found out his name was Jabari. He thanked her when she went to go fetch him water and food, and in the following week, they spent much time together. She found that in addition to bringing him necessities, treating his wounds and teaching him the English language, she was unable to stay away and felt drawn to him. However, she was confused to why he had not left and one day, after asking him about it, found out that he was looking for the people from his village that along with him, were taken by slavers. He told her that he was searching for them during the nights, much to her anger at the risk involved. She told him she would help him and he disapproved of the idea until she reassured him that it would be less risky for her.

When she went to multiple plantations the next day, she was not able to find any of Jabari's people, who had similar facial markings like he did. However, when she went to Pine Grove Plantation, she saw a young woman– with facial markings identical to Jabari's– being whipped by an overseer. She looked at the other slaves working in the field and saw that some of them also had similar markings also. Knowing that she had found Jabari's people, she was about to head back home when she saw Mr Ambrose meeting with the plantation owner, Mr Kingsley, although with subtle hostility. When she arrived back at the shed, Pearl informed Jabari of her discovery and found out that the young woman she saw was Inira, Jabari's younger sister. She told Jabari she would help him free his people and he kissed her, but then rebutted that it was his fight. She said it had become her fight as well and they set out together to Pine Grove Plantation that night.

Upon arriving, Jabari killed multiple guards in their way and found his people locked up in a hut. He tried to break his sister's chains to no avail and when they heard more guards arriving, he and Pearl were forced to leave, with Inira making Pearl promise that she would take care of Jabari. Back at the shed, Jabari was completely despondent until Pearl scolded him verbally and physically, making him resolve to not give up of freeing his sister and people. While brainstorming plans, Jabari brought up that an ally, or an enemy of their enemy, would benefit them greatly. Pearl then remembered Mr Ambrose's meeting with Kingsley and said that she knew someone. Hours later, she went to Mama Dumant's brothel and was able to win over Mr Ambrose's dogs by bravely approaching and petting them. She went to the attic to talk to Mr Ambrose and while he was initially displeased at her arrival, she was able to convince him to join her's and Jabari's fight.

However, when they met up later at an abandoned farmhouse, he proposed a different approach: rather than just freeing the slaves directly, he wanted to convict Kingsley effectively by exposing him for his crimes. He continued that he had two ships at the coast and that they would notify him when Kingsley's men arrived with the next import of slaves. Pearl added that the slavers would have to be taken alive as witnesses for the court of law, a point that Mr Ambrose grudgingly agreed with. He added that he would make the Sheriff cooperate with them and then asked them both if they were on the same page as him. When Pearl asked Jabari what he thought, he told her that he believed it would be the best way to free his people but that he did not want her involved for her safety. She vehemently protested and asked him if he had grown tired of her. He denied it and they confessed their love for each other, much to Mr Ambrose's annoyance.

Three days later, they met up again at the beach, along with Sheriff O'Riley and his men. When the slavers' ship was spotted, Jabari snuck aboard with a bottle of acid to free the slaves. When the slavers got off the ship, Mr Ambrose told them to surrender. The slavers refused and a bloody battle commenced. As the slavers were losing, they headed back towards the ship and Pearl led everyone else to charge against them. As they reached the ship, the slavers were being thrown overboard by Jabari and the newly freed slaves. Pearl united with him in the fighting, but passed out after being shot in the shoulder. Once she regained consciousness, Mr Ambrose told her that they had won the battle and that Karim had to prevent Jabari from murdering the few remaining slavers after Pearl had been shot. Mr Ambrose then helped Pearl to her feet at her insistence and the rest of the trapped slaves on the ship were freed. When she saw Jabari again, he made her promise not to worry him like that ever again. Food was distributed for everyone and there was a picnic on the beach. When the issue arose of where the former slaves would stay for the night, Pearl volunteered to use her place.

Her mother was not happy about being woken up in the middle of the night with dozens of people outside their place but nonetheless resigned to housing and preparing food for all the guests. Meanwhile, Pearl and Jabari discussed the next step of Kingsley's downfall with Mr Ambrose, Karim and the Sheriff. After confirmation from one of the imprisoned slavers that Kingsley was involved in illegal importation, Mr Ambrose said that the last thing to do was to head over to Pine Grove Plantation and arrest Kingsley after obtaining a warrant. They all went to sleep for the night but were awoken a couple hours later after one of the Sheriff's men had fled. Figuring out the man was a spy for Kingsley, Pearl sent Jabari after him. She along with Mr Ambrose and Karim followed suit to see that Jabari successfully apprehended the traitor albeit becoming wounded in the process. They headed back to Pearl's farm and slept for the remaining hours. When Pearl awoke, she saw she was the last one to join everyone else and they all headed over to the plantation.

When they arrived, they disarmed the guards and Mr Ambrose sent out his men to arrest Kingsley's men and protect all the slaves. Pearl went with him, Jabari, Karim and the Sheriff into Kingsley's house. After they arrested his wife, Jabari kicked down the door to Kingsley's room and Mr Ambrose told him he would not be investing in his plantation. Kingsley scathingly remarked to Mr Ambrose he would regret his actions to which Mr Ambrose remained unaffected. Pearl and Jabari then headed over to the slave huts where his sister and people were locked up. He saw that they were still alive and after getting the key from one of Mr Ambrose's men, freed his people from their chains. They all celebrated at their freedom and hugged Pearl and Jabari with utmost gratitude for their courageous dedication.

Later that day as Kingsley was being carted away, Pearl brought up to Mr Ambrose that Kingsley would still have enough money to pay the bail but Mr Ambrose refuted it, saying that she did not have to worry about that happening. He then refused to say any more about the topic and Pearl went back to taking care of the newly freed former slaves along with Jabari. A few hours later, Pearl heard the Sheriff arguing with one of the overseers. When she enquired about the issue, she found out that there were multiple accounts on the number of imported slaves. Hence the dilemma was which slaves should be set free. When Pearl suggested freeing all the slaves, the Sheriff protested. Mr Ambrose then interjected, saying that only the slaves with facial markings should be freed, evoking Pearl's and Jabari's anger at his betrayal while the Sheriff was pleased the problem was solved.

In the late afternoon, the Sheriff went to Pearl and Jabari, handing Jabari an official declaration granting him and his people freedom as well as some unexpected news. He left and the couple exchanged surprised looks. Pearl then told Jabari she would go to one of the shops in town and afterwards, pay Mr Ambrose a visit. When she arrived at Mama Dumant's brothel around half an hour later, she heard the other prostitutes saying that Mr Ambrose had taken down Kingsley all by himself. Heading upstairs to the attic, she confronted Mr Ambrose with the unusual news she had been told by the Sheriff: that somehow all the slaves had been freed since all of their faces were painted in a similar manner to Jabari's and his people's. When she added that the general store's owner from town told her his entire stock of paint had been purchased the day before and that she knew only a few of the former slaves had the original facial markings, Mr Ambrose realised she knew what he had done. He asked her if she planned to tell anyone about it and she assured him that she would not. He advised her not to sell her mother's farm under four times the amount they bought it for if anyone were to offer buying it. He then told her to leave and she complied, albeit utterly confused.

The meaning of his words were revealed the next morning when a man showed up at her farm asking to buy the farm. She had made sure to sell it at twice the price that the investor had asked for, and with the money bought a new house with fertile land for farming. Around two weeks later, Pearl realised the extent of Mr Ambrose's scheming when the local newspaper headlines announced that a railway would be coming to town, with the main route running through Pine Grove Plantation. Since Mr Ambrose had bought the plantation shortly after Kingsley was arrested, he was able to sell it at an exorbitant price. Finally understanding that Mr Ambrose had been plotting Kingsley's downfall from the start so he could sell his plantation for profit, Pearl found that she could not be mad at Mr Ambrose since in the process, he had helped her out and freed many slaves.

Pearl knew that since Jabari's people had been freed, they would be heading back to Africa with Mr Ambrose who offered to take them back with the condition that everyone would work as part of the ship's crew during the trip. Pearl was feeling sad since she assumed Jabari would be leaving her to go back with his people. When she said goodbye to him and started crying, he smiled and told her that he did not plan to leave. Telling that he had no obligations since his people were freed, he declared that he was a free man and that he wanted to be with her. He then proposed to her, giving her a black ring he forged himself made of iron, from the key that had freed his sister and people of their chains. After accepting his proposal, Jabari then called over a preacher to commence the wedding ceremony. The preacher asked if Jabari was a Christian and after Pearl explained Christianity to him, Jabari decided to convert and be baptised. The wedding continued and they were married in front of many others, including Jabari's people and her old family's friends. Pearl shook everyone's hand for congratulations and when she lastly arrived at Mr Ambrose, asked him about his plans. He informed her that he would be heading back to England after the stopover at Africa. She surprised him when she asked if a lady would be waiting for him there, to which he vehemently denied. She took his hand and told him that he would find special someone one day. He withdrew his hand and they bade farewell, with him telling his men and Jabari's people it was time to leave as he headed back towards his ship.

## Physical Appearance

Pearl is a young African-American woman, with a slender build and coffee-brown skin tone. She bears scars on her wrists as a reminder of the chains from her earlier years as a slave. As a farm girl, she is usually seen wearing a simple work dress and carrying a basket whenever she is selling eggs.

## Personality

Pearl is a tough, yet compassionate person. Hardened from a life of slavery, she bears resentment towards those that would oppress others and wholeheartedly abhors slavery along with those that enforce it. Her ultimate wish is to have a quiet, simple and peaceful life after the suffering she had undergone in her earlier years. Despite that though, Pearl's nature is more of a brave, risk-taking one when the situation calls for it, and at times, perceived to the point of foolishness by outsiders. Nonetheless, she possesses ardent loyalty to those that she loves, willing to put her life on the line and to fight for them.

As misleading as her smaller stature may present to others, she is quite the adept fighter both mentally and physically– not willing to give up in the most daunting of circumstances and able to wield a blunt weapon for self defence, as well as having been taught by her late father to use a gun with precision. Pearl also has a more pragmatic and sceptical mindset, evidenced by taking a more rational approach to solving problems, in addition to constantly questioning the validity of others' statements.

## Relationships

### Jabari

Jabari, an escaped slave looking for the rest of his tribe, forms a romantic attachment to and eventually marries Pearl. They first meet when she finds him in the shed, and he attacks her. She subdues him with a cudgel because of his exhaustion, and hides him in the shed. After a while, she brings him food and water, beginning to care for and feel attracted to him and teach him English. Eventually, Pearl helps him free his people. Shortly afterwards, they decide to get married and settle down at a farm with Pearl's mother.

### Unnamed father

Pearl’s father was killed by white men looking to put down a slave rebellion, even though he himself had not been a part of the rebellion.

## References

1. ↑ Abolitionism in the United States- Wikipedia