Sugar

On New Year’s Day, the second anniversary of her Ma’s death, Sugar sits underneath an evergreen tree. Here, she can hide from the others and remember Ma in peace. She recalls the final days leading up to Ma’s death, when she promised her Ma that she would stay at River Road and wait for her Pa. Sugar kept her promise, but Pa still hasn’t returned for her.

Sugar’s “first big secret” (40) was hiding Ma’s illness from the other workers and Mister Wills. Mister Wills would withhold a season’s pay if any of the workers took even one sick day, so Ma did her best to hide her condition and ride it out. By the time the harvesting season was over, Ma was exhausted and overcome with fevers and pain. Before Ma died, she told her daughter to “Do. See. Feel” (41). From under the tree, Sugar tells Ma one of Mister Beale’s Br’er Rabbit stories.

Eventually, Sugar returns to the shack, where a plate of collard greens and black-eyed peas (each signaling good luck for the New Year) are waiting at her door. Sugar thanks Missus Beale and goes into her room to eat her dinner.