Four-year-old Essie Mae Moody, her parents, and her baby sister live in a two-room shack on the Carter plantation. Her parents work in the fields during the day while her mother’s younger brother, George Lee, watches Moody and her sister, Adline. George Lee, age 8, resents his duties and bullies Moody. He starts a fire that burns down the house and blames Moody for it. Moody’s dad beats her so hard with a piece of wood that she cannot sit down: “An hour or so later, it was so knotty and swollen I looked as if I had been stung by a hive of bees” (17). Moody tells Mama that George Lee started the fire, so a different uncle comes to babysit.

Mama gives birth to a boy and calls him Junior. Shortly after, Moody’s parents separate because her father has an affair. Mama finds other jobs and another house, but there is little money. Sometimes she steals corn to feed her family. At age 5, Moody attends Mount Pleasant School. She is frightened of the teacher, Reverend Cason, who speaks loudly. She starts spending 3-4 hours a day in the toilet. This works well until other students also spend several hours in the toilet.