Coming Of Age In Mississippi

Moody fills her time with school, basketball, piano lessons, and church involvement. She spends nearly 18 hours a day outside of her home. Mrs. Burke complains that her son Wayne is doing poorly in algebra and is surprised to learn that Moody makes A’s in algebra. She hires Moody to tutor Wayne and his friends, but Mrs. Burke does not like the open friendship between Wayne and Moody. She asks Moody what she thinks of school integration, specifically of going to school with Wayne, and Moody responds: “I think we could learn a lot from each other. I like Wayne and his friends” (153). Mrs. Burke is furious, and Moody is frightened of what might happen.

One day, Mrs. Burke asks Junior to mow the yard and then turns his pockets inside out when she cannot find her change purse. Mrs. Burke later finds the change purse in the house. Moody informs Mrs. Burke that she will no longer work for her: “I am not coming back, Mrs. Burke” (157). Within the next few days, Mrs. Hunt hires Moody to be a janitor in a store. When Wayne discovers that Moody is working at the store, he stops by as she washes windows. Mrs. Hunt comes outside to observe. Wayne slowly seems to realize that Moody could be hurt as a result of his attention and friendship. When the school year ends, Moody goes to New Orleans for the summer.

Moody stays with Mama’s sister Celia in New Orleans. After a month of looking for a job, Moody is about to go home when she learns of work at a chicken factory. Soon she discovers that the regular factory workers are on strike, and the Negro picketers resent the temporary workers. The new workers may not leave the building because of the picketers outside: “I had never seen such an angry bunch of Negroes in all my life” (165). Her uncle tells her not to return to the factory, but Moody decides to continue working there because she earns over $9.60 each day. The work is hard and messy. Moody removes boiling chicken guts with her bare hands, and she leaves the factory covered in blood and grime. Some chickens have sores on them, and the women simply cut off the sores and process the rest of the meat. The women work without gloves, and their hands break out in skin rashes. The slaughter of diseased chickens and the dehumanizing conditions of her coworkers sicken Moody. She refuses to eat chicken for several years.

Moody returns to Centreville for 11th grade but is bored. She goes to New Orleans after the school year is over and finds work washing dishes with her grandmother Winnie at a restaurant. Moody dislikes the work at first but learns to enjoy it, especially when she starts to wait on tables and earn more money, which she saves. Some male staff at Maple Hill restaurant frighten Moody, but she also learns from them, especially the gay men. James/Lily White is an exotic dancer, and Moody is so curious that she attends one of his shows. Lola, who has a prison record and identifies as a woman, gives Moody suggestions on makeup, clothing, and a more attractive hairstyle. Moody has her hair cut and buys some mascara, and soon “Lola also had [her] wearing straight dresses and uplift bras” (183). 

Moody’s new looks attract unwanted attention from white and black men alike. Mama warns her against going out at night and even threatens white men with going to the sheriff if they harass Moody in the street. Raymond watches her as she combs her hair, and Moody does not like his lustful looks: “I saw him in the mirror standing outside looking at me. I pretended I didn’t see him” (186). Raymond also seems to resent Moody. He and Moody argue loudly, and she picks up a piece of broken mirror and threatens to kill him. Raymond and Mama shut her out of the house.

Moody goes to the sheriff, explains that she is leaving home, and asks him to drive her back to get her clothes. Raymond and Mama are embarrassed that Moody brings the sheriff, especially since the entire neighborhood heard Moody shouting at Raymond and knows what is going on. Daddy and Emma (Daddy’s common-law wife) take Moody in and fix up a bedroom for her. Moody does not like how Emma uses Moody’s presence as an excuse to get money from Daddy to buy new furniture, but Moody is impressed by Emma’s strong personality and her close family. 

Emma’s sister and brother-in-law have a fight, and Emma is shot in the foot trying to protect her sister. Daddy carries Emma out of the house and takes her to the hospital. Moody knows that Emma’s sister has five children and goes into the house to check on them. She finds the kids staring at a pool of blood in the kitchen, and Moody helps to put the younger ones to bed. She stays with Emma in the hospital, and Moody admires how Emma does not blame her brother-in-law. Emma says her brother-in-law and his wife would not have been fighting if he had been able to get a decent job, and if white people aren’t shooting black people, white folks “are starvin’ them to death” (208). Later Emma turns to self-pity.

Moody attends Johnson High School in Woodville and is bored. She joins the basketball team and becomes one its most valuable players. Although she graduates at the top of the class, she is not allowed to give the valedictorian speech because she went to two different high schools. Mama comes to Moody’s high school graduation.