Summary

Chapter 8, “Bell, 1975,” opens in Philadelphia in 1975. Bell is one of Hattie and August’s daughters. Bell is an adult woman at this point. She has led a difficult life and has been estranged from her family for years. She has tuberculosis and has lost the will to live, so she decides to lie in her bed without medication until the tuberculosis kills her. For the past two years, she dated a man named Walter who makes a living as a petty criminal. Bell made a living as a waitress. One day, one of her coworkers took her to an elderly local woman named Willie. Willie specialized in alternative medicines based in African traditions. Willie also happened to be a friend of Hattie’s. Willie gave Bell medicine, but Bell just threw it away. Bell recalls her youth. One day, when she was a teenager...