Loma and the baby move into Will's home, forcing him to give up his bedroom and sleep in an old bed on the back porch. Eventually Loma gets used to Camp being gone and realizes that her life is actually easier, for she now has Queenie and the rest of the family to help take care of little Camp. She soon gets bored with her life of relative leisure and asks for a job at the store.
Rucker doesn't hire Loma immediately, but he is getting more and more involved with Love. Business at the store is getting ahead of them. He finally hires Hosie Roach, over Will's subtle objections. Will tires to tell his grandfather that Hosie is dirty and carries lice, but when Hosie comes for the interview, he is scrubbed clean. Grandpa likes him and hires him. Will is jealous because he envisions Hosie taking his spot and getting paid to do it.
A short time later, Love offers to train Loma as a milliner. Loma is
happy to be in the public eye again, but Will is miserable. The two people
he dislikes the most are both at the store where he has to tolerate them
every day.
Camp's death will actually be a positive event for Loma, and the working
partnership between her and Love will put a severe damper on any further
criticism of Love and Rucker. Will's misery is temporary and more of an
act than real discomfort. He has made a practice of hating Loma and Hosie.
Part of growing up is shaking off the childhood animosity and interacting
as an adult which he will ultimately do. In hiring Hosie, Rucker is also
setting an example and creating the possibility for better futures for
some of the mill town people.
As if things could get any worse for Will, Lightfoot meets him on the
day of his 15th birthday when he is on the way home from school. She tells
him that she does not think ill of him for kissing her, and that she is
getting married to Hosie Roach. She wanted Will to hear it from her first.
Will feels as if his world is falling apart.
The suspense begun in the cemetery is brought to a resolution as we
see that Lightfoot will never marry Will. Hosie is not a bad person; Will's
hatred toward him was only on account of Lightfoot. Will is not going
to get the girl but he will always be able to cherish the memory of that
first kiss and he has some comfort in knowing that she enjoyed it.
Grandpa's store is robbed late one night by two men who showed up earlier
in the day pretending to be cotton buyers. Rucker almost gets the drop
on them with their own gun, but they goad him into taking warning shots,
thus using the last two bullets in the gun. They beat Rucker badly and
take all the day's cash along with some gold coins he had saved in the
nail keg.
None needed
Rucker is still trying to recover from his injuries. Will goes to visit
and overhears Rucker and Love discussing Rucker's ideas about God. The
conversation becomes intimate, telling Will that Love and his grandfather
have indeed fallen in love and have become truly man and wife. He thinks
they are about to live "happy ever after," but instead of getting
well, Grandpa begins to run a fever and takes a turn for the worse.
Will begins to more fully understand his grandfather's ideas about God. The discussion with Love is a foreshadowing of his coming death.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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