Swift River

The town continues to gossip about Diamond’s father, but she feels more secure because of the letters from Lena and Clara. Shelly and Diamond talk about Lila, Shelly’s mother, in Florida and their plans to leave Swift River.

The girls continue their driving lessons with Mr. Jimmy, who now makes out with Shelly in the backseat while Diamond drives. They are still playing “that gross game where they pretend they’re the parents and [Diamond is] the child” (197). Though repulsed by Mr. Jimmy’s lust for Shelly, Diamond can’t help imagining herself in the backseat of a car with a boy.

While they are parked in front of a store, Shelly comments that she thinks a man also parked in the lot looks like Diamond’s father. They watch as the man’s daughter comes out with snacks. Shelly decides to follow the man despite Diamond’s protests. They find the man’s home, a nice house with shutters and a happy wife to greet the man and girl. Diamond realizes that she does not want Pop to be alive if it means he abandoned her and Ma; at the same time, she would like to get to know this happy Black family.

Lena tells Diamond the story of how Robbie, Diamond’s Pop, came to live in Swift River. When Lena and Robbie were young, they went for a long walk to a white neighborhood where there was a baseball field. Robbie was wearing a red cowboy hat, which the coach of the baseball team noticed. The man called Robbie “cowboy” and urged him to come forward and try to hit the baseball. The ball hit Robbie in the head, and in her panic over the bleeding, Lena yelled, “He killed his mama, you know. He can kill you, too” (214). The coach was disgusted and Lena pulled Robbie away. They made it home very late, and Robbie’s father decided that it was time to move Robbie to Clara’s house in Swift River. Lena has kept the baseball all this time and returns it to Diamond with her letter.

Thrilled to hear the news about the family’s new textile mill, Clara writes to Sweetie. Clara reports that her relationship with Jacques is now public knowledge and that he has inherited land in Canada. Her relationship with Jacques angers Doctor, however, who seems to fear that Clara will leave him like Miss Rose did.

Clara recounts an incident when she and Jacques accidentally ended up on the road after sundown. They hid in the woods from a dog and a gun that they heard. Jacques insisted that it was safer to brave the wild than the men on the road. 

When Jacques and Clara announced that they planned to get married, Doctor asked her to leave and refused to be her reference for Howard University as he had originally promised. Clara threatened to tell the townspeople the truth about Miss Rose’s leaving in response, but she is grateful in a way that she is free to go live her new life with Jacques.

Ten days after he is bailed out of jail, Pop is missing. Ma borrows Sylvia’s car and she and Diamond go looking for him. Ma drives too fast to the Campbells and asks Mindy if Tom and Pop had a fight, but Mindy does not answer. Then they walk through the woods, calling for Pop and making their way toward Clara’s cabin. Unsuccessful, they return to the road, where a family of deer nearly crash into the car. Ma refuses to drive again after the incident and soon after, Pop’s shoes are found by the Swift River.