The Pecan Man

Ora’s new makeshift family settles into a routine that winter. One evening, however, when Judge Odell joins them for dinner, Grace mentions her dislike of bad dreams. Blanche, in her panic, drops a dish. The judge encourages Grace to talk about the dream, suggesting that that might help it end, but Ora and Blanche try to silence her. Grace mentions that it is about the “white-haired boy,” whom both Ora and Blanche know to be Skipper.

After Grace leaves the table, the judge tells Ora that he is certain she and Blanche are hiding something.

Ora learns that Eddie receives a subsistence check that he picks up at the post office. One January day, he takes Patrice’s bike there but never returns. As panic sets in, Ora elicits Chip Smallman’s help in searching for Eddie. They drive to a bar at the edge of the county that Chip knows Eddie once frequented, but they have no success. Finally, they find him at his former home in the woods. He has been drinking and asks to bring the alcohol back to Ora’s with him.

As Chip returns Eddie and Ora to her home, he explains to Ora that he needs to report Eddie’s bail violation. The next day, the judge visits, cautioning Eddie against further drinking.

Days pass, and Eddie asks to speak to his lawyer. He tells Ora that he thinks it is best if he pleads guilty, citing that a life in prison is better than a life unhoused. When Ora considers whether she should reveal what she knows about Marcus, Eddie insists that nothing good would come of revealing the truth, especially for Blanche. Eddie meets with his lawyer, hoping that a plea deal can be reached that will spare him the death penalty.

Ora places a call to Chief Ralph Kornegay.

Eddie’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for two weeks later. In the interim, he has a barber chair he had stowed in the woods brought to Ora’s house. He tells her the story of how he purchased the chair for only $10 as he restores it in her garage.

The arraignment takes place. Eddie pleads guilty to second-degree murder and is sentenced to 25 years to life. Ora recalls her conversation with Chief Kornegay in which she revealed Skipper’s rape of Grace.

Eddie is immediately transferred to the nearby corrections facility. Ora instructs a taxi to drop Blanche off at home; Blanche is unsure what she will tell her daughters.

Over the next few days, Ora visits Eddie, bringing him books, magazines, and baked goods that Blanche has made. She helps Blanche prepare for Patrice’s graduation and is surprised to learn that Patrice has no plans to attend college, an opportunity Patrice has always been certain she cannot afford.

Ora, upon learning that Patrice is interested in law school, applies for as many scholarships as Patrice qualifies for. Then, she begins working for her late husband’s insurance company, putting the money into a scholarship fund that will be used for the rest of Patrice’s expenses at the University of Florida.

Though Ora continues to pay Blanche a salary, she refuses to allow her to continue to wear a maid’s uniform, considering her a friend and not an employee.

Patrice heads to college, and ReNetta and Danita do well in school. Grace struggles to focus. Her third-grade teacher metes out physical punishment for her failure to complete her work on time. Ora protests and wants Blanche to allow her to intervene, but Blanche insists that African Americans must deal with such inequalities on their own. Ora wants Grace to receive counseling for the rape, but Blanche is desperate for Grace to forget it.

All of Blanche’s daughters grow up to become successful while Grace continues to struggle. By age 18, she has given birth to two children, and Ora suspects that she may have a substance addiction.

It is 1998. Ora is nearly 80, and Blanche is 60. Blanche has been raising Grace’s two children because Grace has been absent for years. Patrice stops by one day and tells Ora that she has been visiting Eddie. She has read through his file and is certain that Eddie did not commit the crime to which he pled guilty. Patrice wants Ora to tell her what she knows about Skipper’s murder; Ora agrees to do so only with Eddie’s permission.

Ora asks Patrice to be the executor of her will, which she wishes to finalize. Ora will leave her home to Blanche and stipends for ReNetta and Danita. Patrice will oversee the scholarship fund.

As Ora ages, she becomes accustomed to attending funerals. The judge dies, as do many of her other acquaintances. One day, Blanche does not arrive, and Ora immediately takes a taxi to her home. She finds Blanche breathing but unconscious. Blanche dies of a stroke two weeks later in the hospital.

Grace does not appear at her mother’s funeral as Ora hoped she might. However, a few weeks later, Patrice contacts her and convinces Grace to enter a drug rehabilitation facility. Patrice cares for Grace’s children.

Three years later, in 2001, Eddie dies. Ora receives his belongings, which are mostly photographs. She learns that he had saved a respectable amount of money; however, he wanted the money to go to his daughter instead of to his burial. Ora is determined to see to it that Eddie receives a respectful funeral service.

The prison chaplain officiates Eddie’s funeral. His daughter, Tressa Hightower, arrives and is grateful for the photographs Ora gives to her. When Grace and her sisters arrive, Ora reveals another secret, told to her by Eddie in a letter he left: He is their grandfather, and Blanche was his daughter. Ora is certain that Blanche sensed this somehow.

She goes on to say that she plans to leave her home to the sisters outright and that Clara Jean has taken the dictation of her revelation about the murder of Skipper Kornegay.