Part 3: Ceremony, Chapters 15 and 16 Summary

Jinx Fairchild is now twenty-four years old and is taking stock of his life, especially with thoughts of how to improve the future. Jinx is currently employed as an unskilled factory worker at McKenzie Radiator and feels lucky to be one of only a few black men employed at the company. Many of the boys Jinx knew in school have joined the army to get a career and Jinx ponders the proposition for himself. Jinx is proud to be a father of two little boys as well as the child Sissy had with another man prior to her marriage to Jinx, but Jinx's relationships with Sissy and with Jinx's parents are volatile, especially since Sugar Baby's death. Jinx wonders if he even loves Sissy anymore because she has lied and cheated so many times in their marriage...