Moody takes the bus to Baton Rouge and finds a job doing housework. Mrs. Jetson promises to pay her, but then leaves town without paying Moody for two weeks of work. Moody is so discouraged that she wants to go back home, but then she is hired at Ourso’s Department Store. Moody enjoys two weeks there until another worker befriends her, gets Moody to trust her, and then informs the manager that Moody is only 15.

Moody returns to Centreville with new school clothes and learns that another Negro has been run out of town for involvement with a white woman. Mama wonders why Moody feels she must talk about who has been run out of town. Raymond seems to hate Moody. She decides to spend as little time as possible in her family’s home. Moody will take piano lessons in the coming school year to keep her mind occupied, and she also plans her escape strategy: “And as soon as I finish high school I am gonna leave Centreville for good” (145).