Caroline was Julian's mother's nanny when she was a young child. Julian's mother refers to her as an "old darky" but also claims that "there was no better person in the world." Caroline is the last person Julian's mother calls for before she dies, suggesting a return to childhood and also a genuine intimacy with the woman.
Carver is the little African American boy who boards the bus with his mother. He sits next to Julian's mother, who does not regard black children with the same suspicion that she does adults. She finds him cute and regains her composure by joking with him playfully. She offers him a penny in what she thinks of as a gesture of gentility.
An African American woman gets on the bus with her.....
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