Call Your Daughter Home

After arranging all her belongings, Gertrude carries some of them to her brother’s house. Her daughters are happy to see her. Berns is worried that Alvin will pursue his wife, but Gertrude says that he’s gone for good. She does not mention that she killed him. Instead, she asks her brother for help moving the rest of her belongings to the rental house in Branchville.

Even after he sees that the old shack has been scoured from top to bottom, Berns doesn’t ask any questions about Alvin’s whereabouts. As they leave, Gertrude takes one backward glance, but Berns tells her the past is “dead and gone” (102). She must leave it behind.

In the morning, Retta strolls past the Walker house and tells Mary that this will be her new home in a few days when Gertrude arrives. Retta thinks back to her friendship with the deceased Mrs. Walker. The latter came to town and was shunned by the white community because her husband was sent to prison for murder. She began working at the Sewing Circle and made a comfortable life for herself. Since she lived right on the outskirts of Shake Rag, she befriended Retta, who passed her house on the way home each day.

At the Coleses’ house during dinner, Retta overhears the men of the family planning the journey to take their tobacco crop to market. Eddie, the older son, is his father’s right hand. He is as brash and confident as Lonnie is shy. Their plans are interrupted by the telephone. Retta answers and finds that Sarah is on the line. She wants to speak to her mother but implores Retta not to tell her father about it. The housekeeper covers and informs Annie of the call. When Annie picks up the receiver, she immediately disconnects without speaking to her daughter.

Gertrude arrives at her new home and takes stock of the premises. Mrs. Walker left behind a large quantity of canned food, and the garden in the yard is still yielding fresh vegetables and fruit. Gertrude is overwhelmed by the bounty surrounding her. She also finds some clothing of Mrs. Walker’s that can be cut down to make dresses for her daughters.

The following evening, Annie ponders her alienation from her daughters. The phone has been ringing all day, but she refuses to take Sarah’s calls. When Edwin asks, Annie says that someone is playing pranks and hanging up. He sees this is true when he tries to take the next call. Since Sarah doesn’t want to speak to him, she disconnects.

Edwin says that he needs Lonnie to help bring the tobacco to market. Annie objects, saying that Lonnie is critical to the garment business. However, she is overruled. The plantation isn’t doing well because of the boll weevil blight, and a good tobacco crop might save the family’s fortune. She thinks, “No one, not even the boys, knows the truth of our financial predicament” (122).

At the end of the day, Retta and Mary return home to see lights shining in the Walker house. Gertrude’s family has arrived, and everyone is busy getting settled. Mary is happily reunited with her mother and sisters. Retta watches this pleasant scene from across the street. As she turns toward her own home, she gets a vision of a swarm of black bugs that appear and disappear almost immediately. Retta thinks, “He’s here, on the porch, watching. Alvin” (125).

At home that night, Retta thinks about her own dead daughter. She and Odell waited 10 years before successfully conceiving a child. Retta had a vision of the girl before she was born. Her name was Esther Marie. She grew sick and died at the age of eight. The day after this loss, Odell suffered an accident that cost him his leg.

When Odell arrives home that evening, he says that Edwin approached him about driving one of the tobacco wagons to market. It’s a three-day trip through the swamps, and Retta is worried it will be too hard on him. Odell objects that the pay is good at $12 a day, and he wants to feel useful. Retta is filled with foreboding, but she can’t convince Odell to decline the job.

After settling into their new house, Gertrude assigns chores to all her daughters. The two nickels that Mary received from Mr. Coles go into the family pot, and the other girls will contribute their earnings, too, once they find work. Mary and Alma will go to school and do chores at home. Gertrude tells her daughters they need to stick together and stay out of trouble.

Gertrude reports for work the following day at the Sewing Circle. She will take Mrs. Walker’s old place. Lonnie and Annie are on hand to announce the new order for 100 shirts. The Coles have invested in six brand new sewing machines because Annie believes that the expansion of their business warrants the investment. All the seamstresses are delighted.

During her break periods, Gertrude uses the time to rework Mrs. Walker’s old dresses for her daughters. One of the dresses was meant as a gift for Retta, but she never took it, so Gertrude claims this as well. When she tears the seams open, she finds $11 and a note from Mrs. Walker to Retta. “It’s all I got of value, so it’s only right it go to the one person of value to me. Go to Charleston and remember me when you do. Your friend, Dorothy Walker” (135).

That evening, Gertrude returns home but can’t stop thinking about the money and how much it will help her family survive the coming winter. She wants to fit her daughters for their new clothing, but Lily says she isn’t feeling well and won’t come out of bed. Gertrude checks on her daughter and forces her to try on the new clothing. In the process, she discovers that 13-year-old Lily is pregnant by a 19-year-old boy she was warned away from seeing. Gertrude thinks, “No amount of money can fix what this is” (137).

Retta hears the screams from across the street. Mary comes running to ask her help because Gertrude is going to kill Lily. When Retta arrives, she finds Gertrude throttling her daughter and immediately breaks up the fight. Gertrude is livid, but Retta warns her that she’s upsetting the entire neighborhood. Odell comes to get his wife, and Retta warns Gertrude that she will lose her job if she harms her daughter again. Afterward, Odell warns Retta not to get mixed up in the affairs of white folks.

For several days, Annie hears her phone ring repeatedly between one and two o’clock in the afternoon. She knows Sarah is trying to reach her. Finally, Annie decides to take the call. Her husband and sons are out in the barn, so she can speak freely. Both Sarah and Molly are on the line. Annie is incensed that her daughters told their children that their grandmother was dead. The girls want to explain and invite Annie to meet her grandchildren, but they don’t want Edwin to come along. Annie is once again angry that her daughters would exclude their father from a family gathering. She declines, thinking parents are “easy targets” for their children’s unhappiness.

Annie then goes out to the tobacco barn, where her family and their crew are eating lunch. They have 20 wagons for their journey: 18 for the tobacco and 2 for supplies. Once more, Lonnie protests that he should stay behind to oversee the shirt production at the Sewing Circle. Edwin insists that his younger son accompany the tobacco shipment, and Annie agrees.

Retta observes the tobacco packing operation and Odell’s determination to drive a team of horses for the Coles family. She brings the workers fresh lemonade every afternoon during the time that it takes to get the packing done. Odell is aware of Retta’s disapproval. She fears for her husband’s safety, but he won’t change his mind about the trip.

After work one day, Gertrude goes to the Barker house with Lily at her heels. Harlan Barker is the boy who got Lily pregnant, and Gertrude is determined to see justice done. When she arrives, Mrs. Barker greets her and listens to Gertrude’s accusations. She doesn’t even question whether the story is true or not. Instead, she forces her son to marry Lily that same afternoon.

At home that night, Gertrude thinks about her daughter’s fate, believing she is “too dumb and headstrong to know what hand her actions have dealt” (152). Gertrude is convinced that Alvin is haunting her through Lily, but she doesn’t know how to exorcise his evil spirit.

On Sunday, Odell and Retta go to Old Canaan Baptist Church, which has a Black congregation. Preacher gives a moving sermon about Jonah and the Whale that softens Retta’s heart toward her stubborn husband. She tells him she believes in him, and he embraces her.

At the same time, Gertrude and her daughters attend the local white church. They are dressed in their new frocks, and all of them look presentable for a change. Gertrude is determined to get Alma and Mary baptized, because this wasn’t done when they were babies, and she doesn’t want her daughters to go to hell. Berns and Marie stand as their godparents before the congregation, and Gertrude feels hope for the future.

On Monday night, Annie is having trouble sleeping. The house is empty because the men left that morning to take their tobacco to market. Annie is drawn to the barn where she spent many a night pondering her son Buck’s suicide. Buck was only 12 years old when he hanged himself in the barn. Annie is still mystified by her son’s actions and blames herself for not recognizing his emotional pain at the time. Back in the house, she takes a knife and cuts the telephone cord. Then, she takes a sleeping powder to fall asleep.