There I was back on the Brodas plantation. And the word was that things weren't going so well with Master Brodas. The plantation was even beginning to look run down. He needed money and was hiring out more and more of his slaves. He was even selling some. Needless to say that these were some uneasy and worrisome times amongst the slave quarters. My mother was worried that I was seven years old and hadn't learned any special skills. And that Master Brodas wouldn't want to keep me around not knowing much and eating my head off. However, a few days later when I was hired out to become a child's nurse, my mother, Old Rit, felt that her prayers had been answered.