Stacey is angry after he leaves but Papa says that he does not understand the risks that Mr. The Wallaces have threatened to get the sheriff to put those who owe debts on the chain gang. Montier have asked their tenant farmers for sixty rather than fifty percent of their cotton and has threatened to kick those who shop in Vicksburg off their land. Avery arrives and says that he cannot buy things in Vicksburg anymore because Mr. They have planted extra cotton to make up for the fact that Mama was fired. When Cassie begs him to stay he tells her he has to go in order to pay the taxes and mortgage. Papa has still not left for the railroad when school ends. At supper, Papa tells Mama that Thurston Wallace has been talking about stopping the shopping in Vicksburg but that it is not time to be scared yet. Jamison comes over and talks to Papa, who is working in the fields. Jeremy also says that TJ has been hanging around with his brothers RW and Melvin, who are eighteen and nineteen, and who make fun of TJ behind his back.Ĭassie asks her mother why TJ would hang around with the Simms boys, and Mama tells her that they hang around with him to make themselves feel good and to use him. Jeremy tells Stacey that he will miss walking with him and offers to visit his house but Stacey says that his father would not like it. Spring comes, and classes are about to end at Great Faith at the end of March.
