Ruth cooked Patty and Anton breakfast and the three sit at Patty's kitchen table getting to know one another. As they are talking a car pulls up into the driveway. Patty and Ruth assume that it is Patty's father who is home. Patty rushes Anton into her room and hides him under her bed. It was only Mrs. Henkins coming to pick up Sharon.

Anton realizes how he is putting Patty and Ruth in danger, and says he will leave that night when it turns dark. Patty panics and tells him that he is safe with her. Ruth does not agree with Patty.

Notes

In this chapter Anton and Ruth get to know each other; we also learn a little more about Ruth and her son, Robert.

Ruth was surprised to hear that there were no colored people in Germany. When Anton told her this she asked him how they kept their houses clean.

Ruth tells Anton a story about when she was a child: Ruth's mother promised her that she would have a better life than herself. Ruth's mother worked for Mr. Eugene Jackson, who is Edna Louise's grandfather. He used to keep her mother's savings in a safe in his office. Ruth's mother would frequently input money to her savings for Ruth's education. When it came time for Ruth to begin teaching school, there was barely any money in the savings; Mr. Jackson had stolen Ruth's money.

Ruth then described how she had saved money for her son, Robert to attend school. She had saved him money, in the bank, for him to attend college. Shortly after Robert went off to college, he got drafted into the War.

CHAPTER 13

Summary

In the beginning of this chapter, Patty is choosing between her father and Anton. She feels that if she turns Anton in, her father will gain publicity and then love her. During dinner, Patty was asking her father about his day and he snapped at her, telling her to be quiet and stop asking so many questions; her decision was made.

Patty walked Ruth to Nigger Bottoms and said goodbye to her.

That night, Patty packed up some of her belongings and met Anton in the hideout. Anton told Patty that it was impossible for her to go with him. Patty told Anton that she loved him; he did the same. Before he left the hideout to catch the train, he kissed Patty and gave her a valuable ring that had been in his family for many generations. He leaves shortly after to catch the train.

Notes

It is interesting, in the beginning of the chapter, how Patty contemplates turning Anton in, just to attempt to gain her father's love. She creates an imaginary story how if she turned Anton in, her father would be a hero and love her. This is similar to the story she imagined earlier when buying him the expensive shirt for father's day.

When her father yelled at her, during dinner, she realized that her father would not change. Patty learned, this time, to go with the man she loved and who loved her in return.

That same evening, during dinner, Patty notes that Ruth was wearing the pin she had given her for Mother's Day; Patty never mentions giving her own mother a gift for Mother's Day. Patty knows that Ruth has been more of a mother to her, than her own; Ruth also knows and acknowledges this fact by wearing the ping Patty had given her for Mother's Day.

When Patty is saying goodbye to Anton, she tells him that she loves him. Anton gives Patty a very valuable ring and tells her that he loves her. This is the first time, in this novel, that Patty is seen to express love to someone and actually receive it in return. Patty is uneasy that Anton has given her such a valuable ring; he replies that he always wants her to know that she is a person of value, and that she also had a friend who loved her enough to give her his most valuable possession. Someone has finally emphasized to Patty that she is an extremely valuable person.