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Summary: Chapters 8 & 9

Chapter 8: Paper

The reader is introduced to Patty "Paper" Millison. Paper is a beautiful woman, desired by all, and therefore it is easy for her to gather secrets and information from others, making her the town gossip. One day, outside the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, she tells the story of a fight that broke out between Enzo “Big Soap” Carissimi and Fatty Davis. Big Soap is a local Italian worker while Fatty is a Black man and the owner of a local jook joint, and the two men are close friends. Her account of the incident draws the attention of Rusty, who doubts the story. Paper launches into the full tale and attracts a small crowd. She explains that Fatty had begged Soap to hit him and that Soap had finally relented, accidentally knocking Fatty's gold tooth out. Paper had tried to help Fatty find it. Paper reveals that Fatty had recently been promoted over Soap and let it get to his head, soon growing sloppy and lazy. An inspector came to their workplace and Fatty, who had been slacking off and leaving most of the work to Soap, lied during the inspection, and the two men were both fired. Paper suggests that Fatty may have wanted Soap to hit him to even things out because he knew how upset Soap's mother would be when she found out her son lost his job. 

After relaying her story, Paper goes into the store and talks to Addie. The two women notice a man loitering outside the store and suspect he may be the man sent to take Dodo away. However, the man is Black and the women doubt the government would give a Black man such a high-ranking position. The women realize that someone in town must be gossiping about Dodo because Chona has told the man three times that Dodo no longer lives in the area. Paper says she will get to the bottom of the mystery and discover who has been exposing Dodo. 

Chapter 9: The Robin and the Sparrow

One of Chona's neighbors is Bernice Davis, Fatty's sister, whom Chona has a strained relationship with. Bernice has many children and works for Irv and Marv Skrupskelis, two Jews whom Chona dislikes. In childhood, Chona and Bernice had briefly been close friends, as had their fathers.

The narrative delves into the backstory of Chona's father, Yakov, also known as Reb, and his experience as a Jewish immigrant and one of the first Jews to settle in Pottstown. When he first arrived in the States, Yakov faced numerous struggles, but over time, he carved out a life for himself, with some help from Shad Davis, a local Black man and an unlikely friend. The two men worked together, with Shad helping Yakov build his house, open a grocery store, and eventually establish a temple. Shad died young, but their friendship lived on through their daughters, Chona and Bernice. As children, the two girls were briefly friends, sharing their cultures with one another.

However, Bernice was the target of racial discrimination from their teacher and it caused a rift between the two girls. One day, Chona defended Bernice at school when she was singled out by a teacher. The girls' teacher asked the students to each stand up and sing. If the student sang, they were labelled a “robin” and if they did not, they were labeled a “sparrow.” Chona happily sang but Bernice refused, causing the teacher to categorize Bernice as a sparrow. Chona defended Bernice but the incident led to a divide between the two, and Bernice eventually stopped coming to school. This proved to be a turning point for Chona who began to realize the limits of her own life and future.

However, Moshe then entered her life, bringing love and devotion. Her life began to feel full, though she knew that, unlike Bernice, she would never have children. But now, Chona does have a child, in a sense—she has Dodo, whom she adores him, though she knows their time together is temporary. She’s been housing him for four months at this point, but Carl Boydkins, a man from the state, has discovered Dodo’s whereabouts, and Chona needs Bernice’s help to hide him when Carl comes to the store. Knowing that Moshe would likely fold under the pressure if he found out, Chona turns to Bernice, who immediately agrees to help and offers her home as a hiding place.

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