Black Boy: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

Richard arrives in Memphis and immediately heads to Beale Street, an area of the city that he has heard is filled with “prostitutes and criminals,” but also with cheap places for rent. Richard finds a woman named Mrs. Moss in front of her house, which Richard assumes to be a brothel, but he is pleasantly surprised when she offers him a place to stay at reasonable rent. Mrs. Moss says that she lives in the house with her husband, a baker, and her daughter, Bess. Mrs. Moss appears kind to Richard, says that he can eat with the family, and also admits that Richard is permitted to drink on the premises, so long as he is courteous to the family. Richard cannot believe that Mrs. Moss is so kind to him.

Richard has dinner with Bess and Mrs. Moss that evening, and Mrs. Moss embarrasses her daughter by saying that Bess is of marriageable age, and that Richard would be a great husband to her. Richard too is flummoxed that Mrs. Moss is so willing to almost immediately offer her daughter to Richard in marriage. After dinner, Richard and Bess talk for a moment, and she shows him her schoolbooks (she is 17 but only in fifth grade); Richard goes up to his room that night, worried that he will be “trapped” by the Moss family, or that he will somehow be forced to marry Bess against his will.

Richard goes out before bed that night and finds a job as a dishwasher for twelve dollars a week. Mrs. Moss is surprised and happy that Richard has already found work, and calls out to Bess, saying again that Richard is a fine man and a good one to marry. Richard is shocked again at Mrs. Moss’s forwardness regarding his and Bess’s possible relationship, as they have barely spoken. The next day, Richard tries to eat from a can of beans alone in his room, instead of at the dinner table with Mrs. Moss and Bess, but Mrs. Moss convinces Richard to have chicken with Bess. Afterward, Bess combs Richard’s hair, saying that she loves him and that she would make a good wife. They kiss briefly, and Richard asks to take Bess up to his room to see “how far” she’ll go with him. Richard stops their cuddling after Bess says that her mother wouldn’t like her in Richard’s room. Richard tells Bess they ought to “get to know each other better” before planning a life together, and Bess goes off in a huff. Richard smokes silently, alone, and goes to bed.

The next morning, Richard eats beans out of a can with his fingers and slips out of the house, avoiding Bess and Mrs. Moss at breakfast. Richard goes out and smokes a cigarette, watching the sun rise over the Mississippi. Another black young man comes up to him, telling Richard that he has found a barrel of liquor in the weeds, and that the two of them should sell it and split the profits. Richard, not believing his good luck, agrees, and they find a white man and lift it onto his truck—the white man then drives away, and the black young man goes off to “make change” to split the money with Richard. Richard then realizes that the young boy is never coming back—that he has simply used to Richard as an accomplice to bootlegging, while giving him none of the profits. Richard wonders if the white man, too, was in on the crime, and curses himself for being as naïve that morning as Bess was the previous night, asking Richard to marry her.