erty-stricken area, and one day, Richard witnesses a prostitute and a man in the room upstairs. They move again, and soon after, Aunt Maggie marries Professor Matthew, a mysterious black man who only comes to visit Maggie in secrecy. When Matthews kills a white woman, he and Maggie flee North to avoid trouble. Trying to earn money for food with only one steady income, Richard decides to sell his dog; Betsy; when a white woman agrees to pay a dollar for the dog, Richard refuses because he does not want to sell his dog to a white person. Richard is enrolled in school, where he is behind in his studies and too scared to participate. Now older, Richard associates with a gang of other black boys with whom he converses. The gang also participates in fights against white boys, which sometimes turn into bloody battles. The family moves in and out of various houses. His mother's health begins to deteriorate, until one day, a stroke paralyzes her. Richard and his brother are sent to live with different relatives: Leon goes with Aunt Maggie to the North while Richard chooses to stay with Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody in Greenwood. At Clark's residence, Richard refuses to sleep in his bed after learning that a dead boy once slept in it. When Clark and Jody punish him for using bad words, Richard requests that he be sent back to live with his grandmother. At the age of twelve, Richard develops an emotional detachment from his mother, has not had one year of formal schooling, and has known what it means to suffer. Living at Granny's house meant little meat or fish because she was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Richard was enrolled in the religious school, where Aunt Addie taught. Addie was intent on making Richard into a bad example, and punished him for things he did not do. One day at home, when Addie threatens to beat Richard, he grabs a kitchen knife to defend himself. When a religious revival was in progress at church, Granny dragged ...
