Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered

10One day Hezekiah asked off from work to go off with the ball team.Janie told him not to hurry back. She could close up the store herselfthis once. He cautioned her about the catches on the windows anddoors and swaggered off to Winter Park.Business was dull all day, because numbers of people had gone tothe game. She decided to close early, because it was hardly worth thetrouble of keeping open on an afternoon like this. She had set sixo’clock as her limit.At five-thirty a tall man came into the place. Janie was leaning onthe counter making aimless pencil marks on a piece of wrapping paper.She knew she didn’t know his name, but he looked familiar.“Good evenin’, Mis’ Starks,” he said with a sly grin as if they had agood joke together. She was in favor of the story that was making himlaugh before she even heard it.“Good evenin’,” she answered pleasantly. “You got all de advantage’cause Ah don’t know yo’ name.”“People wouldn’t know me lak dey would you.”“Ah guess standin’ in uh store do make uh person git tuh be knownin de vicinity. Look lak Ah seen you somewhere.”“Oh, Ah don’t live no further than Orlandah. Ah’m easy tuh see onChurch Street most any day or night. You got any smokin’ tobacco?”She opened the glass case. “What kind?”