In this chap­ter, we are intro­duced to Addie Tim­blin, an elder­ly black woman who anx­ious­ly awaits her hus­band Nate out­side their home in Chick­en Hill, Pottstown. Inside, a meet­ing of the Pottstown Asso­ci­a­tion of Negro Men unfolds, where the men engage in card games and gos­sip rather than address­ing seri­ous com­mu­ni­ty issues. Their dis­cus­sions reveal the strug­gles faced by the black com­mu­ni­ty for bet­ter jobs and infra­struc­ture.

As the con­ver­sa­tion shifts to a woman named Miss Chona, who is dying, Addie express­es her dis­be­lief in the neces­si­ty of tra­di­tion­al death cus­toms pro­posed by Snooks, a self-pro­claimed rev­erend. The men joke and ban­ter about reli­gion and cul­tur­al super­sti­tions, but Addie remains skep­ti­cal of their friv­o­lous antics, reflect­ing on the hypocrisy of the men who owe Miss Chona mon­ey but pre­tend to care for her.

Mean­while, Nate arrives, and ten­sions rise as Addie informs him about Dodo, a deaf twelve-year-old boy who has report­ed­ly gone miss­ing. The com­mu­ni­ty’s con­cern deep­ens as it becomes clear that Dodo might have rid­den a freight train to Philadel­phia. When Addie reveals that the boys who found him had no means to call for help, Nate’s frus­tra­tion mounts.

Annoyed by the men’s idle chat­ter at the meet­ing and their dis­mis­sive atti­tude towards real issues, Addie steps out­side. She then wor­ries over Dodo’s safe­ty and implies the men’s inac­tion could lead to dire con­se­quences. Nate, res­olute, decides to search for Dodo.

The nar­ra­tive shifts to Nate’s search, illus­trat­ing his deep con­nec­tion to the land and the peo­ple of Chick­en Hill. He finds Dodo by the creek, where the boy is try­ing to build some­thing with rocks. Their inter­ac­tion reveals Dodo’s inno­cence and his strug­gles with loss, as he presents a note regard­ing his deceased moth­er. Nate com­forts Dodo, affirm­ing the boy’s worth and resilience while dis­miss­ing the sig­nif­i­cance of the note. The chap­ter encap­su­lates the chal­lenges faced by the black com­mu­ni­ty, the resilience of its mem­bers, and the some­times humor­ous, yet heavy, dynam­ics of their rela­tion­ships.

In the cold dark­ness of Chick­en Hill, Addie Tim­blin anx­ious­ly awaits her hus­band, Nate, while the Pottstown Asso­ci­a­tion of Negro Men fer­vent­ly dis­cuss­es the com­mu­ni­ty’s needs amidst card games and gos­sip at her kitchen table. The con­ver­sa­tion shifts to Miss Chona, a piv­otal but ail­ing fig­ure in the com­mu­ni­ty, as the men half-heart­ed­ly acknowl­edge the debt they owe her. Addie, dis­tract­ed, reflects on the echoes of the South in the bonds and dis­putes of the Hill, sym­bol­ized through the spir­it­ed back-and-forth about tra­di­tions and beliefs.

Nate, known for his silent strength and mys­te­ri­ous past, is a qui­et force in Chick­en Hill, con­trast­ing with the live­ly, often friv­o­lous, dis­cus­sions of the men. His arrival shifts the atmos­phere, spot­light­ing his role as an unwa­ver­ing pil­lar of the com­mu­ni­ty, respect­ed beyond the con­fines of the meet­ing. Addie reveals that Dodo, a deaf and endear­ing boy cen­tral to Nate’s life, has van­ished, pre­sum­ably head­ed towards Philadel­phia, spark­ing con­cern and a mobi­liz­ing force in Nate that con­trasts with the pre­vi­ous­ly pas­sive meet­ing dynam­ics.

As Nate con­tem­plates action, Dodo is dis­cov­ered by the creek, engaged in his own world, detached from the com­mu­ni­ty’s wor­ries. This encounter between Nate and Dodo by the creek unfolds with a poignan­cy that under­lines their pro­found con­nec­tion. Nate’s con­fronta­tion reveals Dodo’s sim­ple yet poignant mis­sion to cre­ate a gar­den of sun­flow­ers, emblem­at­ic of inno­cence and hope amidst the chal­lenges around him. Despite the boy’s recent risky adven­ture, Nate’s response is gen­tle, aim­ing to teach rather than pun­ish, illus­trat­ing the depth of his under­stand­ing and com­pas­sion.

The chap­ter clos­es with a ten­der moment between Nate and Dodo, reveal­ing the harsh real­i­ties that shad­ow their lives on Chick­en Hill. The crum­pled paper, sig­ni­fy­ing Dodo’s moth­er’s death and poten­tial upheaval in his life, sym­bol­izes the fragili­ty and com­plex­i­ties of their exis­tence. Nate’s assur­ance to Dodo encap­su­lates a vital mes­sage of resilience and belong­ing, dis­miss­ing the fear of loss and dis­place­ment with the affir­ma­tion of an inter­nal haven of love and accep­tance with­in the heart, undi­min­ished by exter­nal tur­moil.