Root Magic

Jez thinks about how she’d hoped learning root magic would make things easier, but she feels like the opposite has happened with Deputy Collins coming around and Lettie teasing her. She wonders if it would be easier if she stopped trying to do the magic. Suddenly, it seems like Dinah is moving, standing up and looking at her new dress. Jez freezes, considering if this has anything to do with getting stuck in the mud and asking herself, “Had a real, honest-to-goodness haint gotten inside my doll?” (98). Dinah slips off the bed and walks out of the room.

Jez wakes Jay, who spots Dinah walking down the path from the house. Jez decides to follow her, but Jay doesn’t want to. Jez convinces him by saying that their mother and Doc will be upset if something happens to her alone. They go outside and go toward the marsh. They find a patch of darkness, which tells them, “Happy birthday” (103). They scream and run back toward the house, stopping in Doc’s cabin; it sounds like someone is pounding on the door. They find items to protect themselves with, and a trapdoor opens. Doc appears.

Jay recounts the events of the day, and Jez adds that the voice wished them a happy birthday. Doc asks if it felt like the voice wanted to hurt them, based on their “intuition” (107). He says that women often listen to it more than men. She answers that she doesn’t think so.

Doc goes on to say that there’s a part of rootwork he hasn’t introduced them to yet, which includes hexes, spirits, and other creatures. He adds that both Jez and Jay have a “natural connection to the earth and the creatures that share our world” (110). It seems like someone is trying to get them to learn about these things.

Jez thinks of Gran and how she was the only person Jez knew who was more experienced with root than Doc. Jez remembers how Gran told her she would accomplish a lot, but she would first have difficult experiences. She wonders if this was what Gran meant.

Doc says that they need to talk to Gran and that she’s crossing over to communicate with them. They go outside and see the dark shape, which then enters the cabin. The shadow shifts and starts to smell like Gran. Jez runs over and hugs it, and the shape feels like Gran. Then, it speaks, sounding like Gran. She tells them that she didn’t want to miss their birthday. She says that she must go, but they need to “Hice da famblee,” which means “Raise the family” in Gullah (114). They’ll know what it means when the time comes. She says she’ll see them again one day and that Jez should leave her window open for Dinah.

Jez feels like she now understands why learning root magic was important, and no one else’s opinion of it can affect her. She thinks she can do it and tells herself it’s going to be an important year.

Dinah is back in Jez’s bed when she wakes up. Her dress is pristine, and Jez plays with her before she gets up.

The sheriff comes to visit again. He asks if he could use some eggs, corn, and fig jam. He pays her for the items. He says that he spoke to Deputy Collins about bothering people. When he leaves, Janey tells them to be extra careful. They know that the deputy is going to come back.

They go to school, and Lettie teases Jez about being a “witch” (123). Other girls surround her, and Jez says each of their names, making them nervous. Lettie criticizes her bracelet, condemning root. Jez defends herself, and Lettie says that she’s admitted to being a witch. She also calls Jez a “bastard” (125). Susie then confronts Lettie, telling the other girl to go away. Jez thanks her.

Back in class, Jez asks to go see the nurse, Miss Corrie. She tells the nurse that she wanted the year to be better. The nurse reminds her that she skipped a grade and that no year is perfect. Miss Corrie adds that the year might surprise her.

At home, Jez cries and says that she doesn’t want to go to school. Janey says that she has to because many Blacks are unemployed, and they need schooling to get jobs. Jez pulls away from her mother and runs out of the house, feeling frustrated by knowing that the world will treat her differently as a girl. She soon realizes that she hasn’t considered how much Janey has to worry about, as she’s also dealing with losing Gran, keeping the farm going, raising her children, and dealing with the police.

Jez finds and sits on a post that her father built for her and Jay, remembering that they stopped playing on it after their father left when they were six. Janey never explained what happened. Doc and Gran moved there shortly thereafter.

While the kids wondered where their father went, they were more curious about what transpired between their parents. Janey seemed to laugh less and get upset more easily. Now, in the present, Jez promises herself to help more.

Doc appears and sits with Jez, speaking with her in Gullah and explaining that he and Janey would speak Gullah in school as children. Teachers looked down on them, and then they decided to focus on learning “‘normal’ English” (140). Everyone thought they were inferior because they were poor and had dark skin. When Jez tells him that she gets teased about root, he says, “All skin folk ain’t kinfolk,” explaining that some Black Americans want to forget the past (140). They think that white people will accept them if they act as they are expected to. He reminds her to learn from her family.

Jez goes back in and explains that she was teased at school by Lettie. Janey calls her and Jay together, saying that Lettie called her a bastard to hurt her. She puts an envelope on the table in case they want proof of their parentage. Jez decides not to look and returns it to her mother. They eat dinner, and Jez tells Janey about the poems Miss Watson has read. Janey calls them “artists,” and Jez thinks that Doc is an artist too (146). As Jez falls asleep, she dreams of being an artist.

The next day, Jez and Jay go to their lesson with Doc, who explains that they can now dive more deeply into the family magic. He emphasizes that it’ll be both fun and scary. He also tells them that root magic is a type of conjure magic, which brings them into contact with “a part of the world most folks don’t have access to” (148). However, it also means that unfriendly spirits and haints can get to them. He’s going to show them how to protect themselves.

Doc goes over the different ways to handle ghosts and monsters. Jay thinks it’s boring, but Jez writes everything down. He also says that they’ll sometimes have to make difficult choices. They go toward a cluster of trees, and Doc points out a small cage. Sometimes, he tells them, the best way to handle a threat is to kill it off. Sometimes, people also kill for magical ingredients. He takes a bat from the cage and cuts its back, upsetting Jez. However, Doc only collects some of its blood before letting it go, saying that other rootworkers would kill it. He says that bat blood is for luck potions, showing them a bottle. Jay takes a swig of it, but Doc laughs, telling him that he’s supposed to put it on like cologne.

Jez asks why animals have to be sacrificed, and Doc explains that it’s part of their tradition and that their sacrifice helps protect them. She hates thinking about animals being hurt. Doc replies that both he and Gran did it, and Jez wonders if this is why people think root is bad. Doc points out that many others take from the earth without saying thank you or giving back like they do.

They agree to have lunch, and then Jez and Jay will help Doc with potion making.