Their-Eyes-Were-Watching-God-rmrju9

112 Ards Zora Neale Hurston"Aw mah God, now! Reckon Ah better step over dere tomorrowand have some chat wid Janie. She jus' ain't thinkin' whut shedoin', dat's all."The next morning Pheoby picked her way over to Janie'shouse like a hen to a neighbor's garden. Stopped and talked a littlewith everyone she met, turned aside momentarily to pause ata porch or two—going straight by walking crooked. So her firmintention looked like an accident and she didn't have to give heropinion to folks along the way.Janie acted glad to see her and after a while Pheoby broachedher with, "Janie, everybody's talkin"bout how dat Tea Cake isdraggin' you round tuh places you ain't used tuh. Baseball gamesand huntin' and fishin'. He don't know you'se useter uh morehigh time crowd than dat. You always did class off.""Jody classed me off. Ah didn't. Naw, Pheoby, Tea Cake ain'tdraggin' me off nowhere Ah don't want tuh go. Ah always didwant tuh git round uh whole heap, but Jody wouldn't 'low metuh. When Ah wasn't in de store he wanted me tuh jes sit widfolded hands and sit dere. And Ah'd sit dere wid de walls creepin'up on me and squeezin' all de life outa me. Pheoby, dese educatedwomen got uh heap of things to sit down and consider.Somebody done tole 'em what to set down for. Nobody ain'ttold poor me, so sittin' still worries me. Ah wants tuh utilizemahself all over.""But, Janie, Tea Cake, whilst he ain't no jail-bird, he ain't gotuh dime tuh cry. Ain't you skeered he's jes after yo' money—himbein' younger than you?""He ain't never ast de first penny from me yet, and if he loveproperty he ain't no different from all de rest of us. All dese olemen dat's settin' round me is after de same thing. They's threemo' widder women in town, how come dey don't break dey neckafter dem? 'Cause dey ain't got nothin', dat's why."