Yellow Wife

Rubin gives Pheby time to recover after delivering the baby. Pheby relishes the time alone with her son.

One day, Rubin tells Pheby that he thinks she needs some fresh air. He commands her to go to the market with an escort and leave Monroe at home. Pheby feels the freedom of leaving the jail for the first time since her arrival, but she continues to worry about Monroe being left behind with Rubin.

While navigating the market, Pheby sees a well-dressed woman with darker skin. She learns that the woman is the mistress of another jailer and that she is of a mixed racial background. Pheby discovers that it is not uncommon for white enslavers who run jails like Rubin to take enslaved mistresses to help run their household. The woman has four children with her enslaver. Pheby worries that when she returns, she will discover that Rubin had taken Monroe away. But she finds her son in her room with July.

Fearful that someone might take or hurt Monroe, Pheby decides that she must take charge of her own fate. During her nightly meeting with Rubin in the parlor, she asks him to escort her to her room. Before she disrobes, she tells him that he must never sell her son or take a wife, and Rubin agrees.