Not too long ago, my husband and I were doing some volunteer work at our church, helping with hurricane evacuees. We were getting ready to leave after a long day when a young black couple with a young baby came in, needing a place to stay.

Our shelter was overfull at the church, so I looked at my husband and asked if he thought it would be OK to invite them to our home, as we had an empty guest room. He nodded in agreement, and I asked the couple if they would like to be our guests. I could see they were tired and hungry, as they both replied that they would and thanked us very much.

They were a young couple. Sammy, the handsome husband, was 21 years of age, and his lovely wife, Angie, was 19, and they had a two-month-old baby. They got into their old car and followed us home. I was thinking how damn black they were. I really loved to see very black people.

Upon arrival at our house, I busied myself with getting supper ready, as my husband helped them move into our home. After they showered, we sat down to my husband’s favorite meal of cornbread, red beans, and fried ham. They both complimented me on the meal, and one could tell it had been a while since they had eaten.

After the meal, Angie took the baby in the bedroom to nurse him. My husband told Sammy to make himself at home and if there was anything he needed to let him know. He assured Sammy that his horse was Sammy’s while they were our guests. He went into the den and started watching Monday night football as usual, and I began cleaning the after-supper dishes. Sammy joined me to help with the chore.

Sammy remarked, “You are one good cook, Momma, and a nice-looking one at that.”

“Thank you, Sammy,” I replied. “That is a nice compliment coming from a handsome young man.”

Sammy was drying the dishes, and we were making small talk about him and his family when he said, “Momma, you’re one foxy-looking chick.”

I thanked him and laughed as I started thinking, “Gee, I am not sure, but I think he is already making a move on me.” I knew that Black men considered it a rite of passage to get between some white married woman’s legs if they could. I was wondering if he had something like that in mind.

A couple of days later, my husband was sent to the coast for a few weeks to repair some company equipment that got damaged in the storm.

For the next couple of days, it seemed that Sammy was very attentive to me and helped me to do things. He was always complimenting me, and I was very attentive to him and his family, being sure they were comfortable in our home. Sammy increasingly made more and more suggestive remarks to me. I would laugh and sometimes giggle at his remarks. He would say things like, “You are just like a mother hen, looking after her children, and I think it is nice. You sure do carry yourself well, Momma. You are one foxy momma.”