Summary

Hattie, Lawrence, and Ruthie arrive in Baltimore and find a rooming house to stay temporarily. Lawrence learns about a poker game happening that night where he could easily make a lot of money. Although he promised Hattie that he would stop gambling, he decides to join the game so they have some money for an apartment. However, before the game starts, he finds that Hattie and Ruthie are gone. A nearby train station employee tells him that they boarded a train back to Philadelphia. Hattie, feeling guilty about leaving her children, decides to return to Philadelphia rather than try to start a new life with her children and Lawrence in Baltimore. Hattie tells August that Ruthie is not his daughter. Hattie also says that August will have to accept Ruthie or else Hattie will leave, Lawrence, knowing now that he is incapable of living...