Contents
Chapter 28: Annie
Overview
Through exchanged letters, Annie reveals Bobo’s proposal and the shocking news that Hattie Lee is alive, exposing a rift between Annie’s longing for her mother and Bobo’s discomfort. Vernice shares the dilemma with Franklin and invites Annie to be her bridesmaid. Annie pleads for Vernice to visit Memphis so she can confront her mother and stabilize her future.
Summary
Annie writes to Vernice that she may be engaged and that her mother, long believed dead, may be alive. She explains Bobo’s proposal and his jealousy of Hattie Lee’s hold on Annie’s heart, contrasting it with his steady devotion to his own mother. After being misled, Annie learns definitively that Hattie Lee lives.
Vernice replies, sharing Annie’s news with Franklin to explain her own life and commitments. Franklin asks whether Hattie Lee’s return is good news; Vernice cannot immediately answer, recognizing how their identities were formed around absent mothers. Vernice reaffirms trust in Franklin, asks Annie to be her bridesmaid, and seeks Annie’s feelings.
Annie responds that she has tried to heed Bobo, Babydoll, and even Franklin’s probing question. Babydoll encouraged her to discard Hattie Lee’s address, but Annie memorized it. Though Bobo gifts Annie a bus ticket to Atlanta for wedding preparations, Annie asks Vernice to use it instead to come to Memphis.
Hoping to avoid losing both her fiancé and her mother, Annie proposes that Bobo stay with Clyde and Babydoll while she and Vernice share her small room. She argues that she must at least see Hattie Lee to resolve her divided loyalties, and she begs Vernice to come and affirm their lifelong bond as she faces this reckoning.
Who Appears
- Annie KayNarrator in letters; accepts Bobo’s proposal, learns Hattie Lee is alive, and begs Vernice to visit Memphis to help her face her mother.
- Vernice (Niecy)Receives Annie’s letters, confides in Franklin, reflects on absent mothers, invites Annie to be bridesmaid, considers trip to Memphis.
- BoboAnnie’s fiancé; supportive and dutiful to his own mother but uneasy about Annie’s fixation on Hattie Lee; gives Annie a bus ticket.
- Hattie LeeAnnie’s mother, long presumed dead; revealed to be alive, forcing Annie to choose how to reconcile love and engagement.
- FranklinVernice’s fiancé; hears Annie’s story, poses the central question about whether Hattie Lee’s return is good news.
- BabydollFriend who urges Annie to let go of Hattie Lee’s address; offers lodging for Bobo during Vernice’s potential visit.
- ClydeBabydoll’s partner; his place is suggested for Bobo to stay if Vernice visits Memphis.