Mama, I Know

What follows is the final conversation between a man on death row and his mother.

Satchel Lewis Harrison: Mama, I know I done messed up. I know I let ya’ down.

Martha Ann Harrison: Boy, I done told you time and time again that you ain’t to go on the other side of them tracks. What was you thinkin’?

SLH: I dunno. Curiosity, I guess.

MAH: Well, in this case, curiosity ain’t killed no cat. It done gone and killed my only boy. My only baby boy.

SLH: I ain’t dead yet, Mama.

MAH: You all but are, Satch. Got mere minutes until they flip that switch and a jolt takes your breath away.

SLH: Miracles happen.

MAH: Nah. Not for people like us. Not for negros in this part of the world, in this day and age. Not for me and not for you.

SLH: I’m scared, Ma. What’s gonna happen?

MAH: I don’t know, son. I imagine it’s different for each of us. Don’t you cry. You hear.

SLH: Will ya’ sing to me? One last song.

MAH: Which one you wanna have me do?

SLH: One of them church songs you used to sing when I was little.

MAH: Alright. You close them big, brown eyes, lay your head back—best you can—and listen to your mama.

SLH: Yes, ma’am.

MAH: I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear callin’ on my ear, the son of God discloses...

Warden in Charge of Executions: Today, Samuel Lewis Harrison joins his father, John Lewis Harrison, and mother, Martha Ann Harrison, on the other side of life. May the fires of Hell purify the vileness of all their ignorant, negro souls.

(Thank goodness, we’ve changed.)