Thank You, M'am

A “large woman with a large purse that ha[s] everything in it but hammer and nails” is walking home late at night when a teenage boy runs up to her and tries to steal her purse (Paragraph 1). He loses his balance and falls, and the woman “kick[s] him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter” before hauling him to his feet (Paragraph 1). She questions why he tried to rob her before remarking that his face is dirty and that she intends to wash it for him. The boy protests meekly but can’t extricate himself, and the woman—introducing herself as Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones—drags him home with her.

Leaving the door behind her open, Mrs. Jones pulls the boy into her apartment and asks what his name is. He introduces himself as Roger, and she instructs him to wash up. As he does, he asks whether Mrs. Jones is going to hand him over to the police. She says that she isn’t and offers him dinner instead, remarking that he must have been hungry to resort to stealing. Roger admits that he wanted the money to buy a pair of blue suede shoes. To his surprise, Mrs. Jones doesn’t scold him but instead reflects, “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get” (Paragraph 35).

As Mrs. Jones makes dinner, Roger positions himself where she can see him, finding that he wants her to trust him; he even offers to go to the store for her, though Mrs. Jones declines. The two sit down to eat, and Mrs. Jones tells him about her job at a beauty shop.

After dinner, Mrs. Jones gives Roger $10 to buy a pair of blue suede shoes, warning him to “behave [him]self” in the future (Paragraph 45). He thanks her, although as she closes the door behind him, he wishes he could say more. The two never see one another again.

Other works by this author include Not Without Laughter, Cora Unashamed, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, Mulatto, and The Big Sea.