Let The Circle Be Unbroken

As the weeks wear on, Cassie overhears one of her classmates speculating that Stacey is dead. Cassie attacks her and gets into trouble with the teachers until Suzella takes her aside to talk to her, saying, “What we love, we love very deeply. I understand why you jumped on Mary Lou” (297). After classes that day, Cassie and a group of students are approached by Stuart Walker. He’s looking for Dube Cross, a boy who has been seen in the company of the union organizers. Stuart intimidates Dube and the rest of the children, warning them to stay away from the union men.

Later, Jamison brings word about a plantation in bayou country that sent a truck to recruit in the area. David plans to drive down to Louisiana to check out the lead. By now, it is fruit harvest season, and Big Ma is going about the usual fall business of canning preserves. Cassie rebels at the idea of this standard routine, but her mother says, “Cassie, life goes on no matter what, and if we don’t keep on doing the everyday kind of things, it means we’ve given up” (308).

Shortly afterward, Cassie develops the symptoms of scarlet fever. She is sick for a week before the fever breaks. By this time, her father had returned with no news of Stacey. During Cassie’s illness, Wordell has come to sit outside the house and play his harmonica for her. When she finally recovers, she goes out to thank him for the music. He seems pleased and departs.

Shortly before Christmas, Hammer returns to spend the holidays with the family. Even though nobody is in a very cheerful mood, they go out to chop a Christmas tree and prepare some traditional holiday dishes. David returns from another search, still with no word about Stacey. The family gets through Christmas Day pleasantly with visits from the neighbors. When everyone is assembled, Lee Annie announces that she’s going to take the examination that will qualify her to vote. The entire group is appalled and tries to discourage her: “They told stories of humiliations and loss, of tragedies and death, but Mrs. Lee Annie would not be dissuaded” (328). Lee Annie asks Mary to accompany her to the courthouse on January 2, the old woman’s 65th birthday.

Before the party breaks up, Jake Willis arrives with a box of expensive chocolates for Suzella. David explains that she is only 15 and not old enough to receive gifts from men. Besides, Willis is 20 years older than the girl. He takes the rejection badly and is about to start trouble when the men of the family politely ask him to leave. Three days after Christmas, Bud returns to take Suzella back to New York. He and his wife are getting divorced, and Suzella will be sent to live with her mother. She tells Cassie privately that she intends to pass for white because her life will be easier that way. Despite her disapproval, Cassie grudgingly admits she will miss her glamorous cousin.

That same evening, a car arrives with a delegation of white sharecroppers, including Jeremy’s father, Charlie Simms, and Mr. Sutton. They want to enlist the support of David to start a union that includes white and Black members. Morris Wheeler has returned to the area and wants to try organizing one again. The farm workers’ mood has darkened now that 12 more families have been evicted from the Walker plantation. Sutton says, “We figure the Walkers can do that, then so can Mr. Granger, Mr. Montier, Mr. Harrison, anybody. So some of us been talkin’ and we figure it’s time to get the union back on its feet” (338). David remains noncommittal but is invited to the next union meeting in a week’s time.

Afterward, Suzella and Bud drive over to say goodbye to Lee Annie before heading north. The Logan children go along for the ride. After the visit, they pick up Dube Cross and give him a lift. During the trip home, they are accosted by Stuart Walker and his friends, who force Bud to pull over. Stuart begins harassing Bud for becoming involved with a white woman. He and his friends drag Bud from the car and force him to strip off his clothing. He pleads that he doesn’t want the children to witness this scene. Before Bud is completely undressed, the ordeal is interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Morrison. He is the Logans’ handyman and is incredibly strong. Because he once broke a white man’s back, his physical presence is enough to intimidate Stuart and his cronies into leaving. Shortly after this confrontation, Bud and Suzella beat a hasty retreat to New York.

As New Year’s Day draws to a close, the family receives a visit from Jamison. He has received a message from a small-town sheriff in Buford, Louisiana, who may have Stacey in custody. He and four other boys ran away from a cane plantation with stolen money and are being held in jail. Jamison won’t be able to get any more information until the sheriff’s office opens in the morning. The Logans plan to drive to Strawberry to wait for the call at Jamison’s office, and Cassie asks to go along too. This is also the day that Lee Annie plans to register to vote.

When the Logans arrive in town, Jamison still hasn’t been able to get through to the sheriff. In the meantime, Mary and Cassie go to the registrar with Lee Annie. The old woman’s daughter, Leora, is there as well, still trying to dissuade her mother from registering. The men stay outside for fear of generating a hostile reaction from the registrar. One harmless old woman seems less of a threat to the status quo.

When the women arrive, the registrar is incredulous at Lee Annie’s request. Since she is one of Granger’s sharecroppers, the registrar summons the plantation owner, who happens to be in the building at the time. Granger seems hurt and betrayed by Lee Annie’s behavior. He says, “Ain’t I been good to y’all? Letting y’all work that land even when y’all’s crops don’t hardly bring in enough money to pay for your seed and your clothing and such I given y’all credit for?” (358-59).

Lee Annie persists in her desire to take the registration test. Distracted by an uproar outside the building, Granger tells the registrar to proceed. As the test begins, Mary and Cassie are called to Jamison’s office, where he finally has the sheriff on the line. As they make their way across the street, Cassie and her mother witness a demonstration coming toward them:

Cars and trucks were a part of it, loaded down like the wagons and coming just as slowly. Most of the people who sat atop the wagons and in the cars and the trucks were white, but there were some Black faces too. All were the same, grim and humorless, reflecting the despair of the dispossessed (364).

The evicted sharecroppers and day laborers have marched on the courthouse demanding satisfaction from the government. Stuart Walker tries to calm them to no avail. However, “the roar continued for several minutes; then someone started shouting, ‘Dollar fifty a day! Don’t take our farms away!’” (369). Granger emerges from the building with Lee Annie and Leora. He tells the mob that joining the union will lead to Communism. He points to Lee Annie’s attempt to register to vote as another sign of the “breakdown” in the current social order.

‘There’s no place for unions or mixing in the state of Mississippi! You thought of what’ll happen to our great state if people like this try to perform tasks that they ain’t even got the God-given makeup for?’ He turned an accusing gaze upon Mrs. Lee Annie (372).

His words strike a nerve with the white sharecroppers, who begin turning on their Black allies. Morris Wheeler arrives and gets into a shouting match with Granger. Then, someone hurls a bottle, and shots are fired, causing the crowd to stampede.

Mary and Cassie get to safety inside Jamison’s office, where they wait to talk to the sheriff in Shokesville, who has the boys in custody. The sheriff is still out of the office an hour later. The Logans can’t stand the suspense and decide to drive to Louisiana to find out for themselves if Stacey is really there. Before they go, they learn that Granger has just evicted Lee Annie and Leora from his land.

In the sheriff’s office in Shokesville, the family is informed that five boys ran away from a cane plantation where money was reported stolen. All the boys were apprehended, but only one was the thief. The others were being held temporarily until the entire matter could be sorted out. Two of the boys had fallen sick after being arrested and are now recuperating. When they are brought out of the cell, the family is overjoyed to find Stacey and Moe. Both boys look gaunt, and their hands have been badly cut up from working in the cane fields, but the worst of their ordeal is over.

Back at home, Stacey is contrite about running away. He explains that the workers were told lies by the plantation managers. Nobody would be paid until all the cane had been cut. Further, their bedding and equipment charges would be deducted from what they were owed at the end of the season. The boys had written home, but their letters were never sent because the plantation managers didn’t want word getting back about the poor working conditions. By early December, Stacey and Moe were ready to quit, even without any pay. They left with a few other boys, one of whom decided to steal the wages he never received. After the real culprit was identified, the other boys were freed from custody.

When the Logans return to their property, Stacey is relieved to be back home. He is greeted by “Mr. Morrison […] running across the yard. ‘Lord, the boy done come home!’ he cried. ‘He done come home!’ ‘Yes, sir,’ Stacey said, limping to meet them. ‘I done come home […] and it’s the very best place to be’” (394).