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

209/260“Well, uh, Good bye, Motor Boat. Everything is pretty bad, yuhknow. Us might git missed of one ’nother. You sho is a grand friendfuh uh man tuh have.”“Good bye, Tea Cake. Y’all oughta stay here and sleep, man. No usein goin’ off and leavin’ me lak dis.”“We don’t wanta. Come on wid us. It might be night time when dewater hem you up in heah. Dat’s how come Ah won’t stay. Come on,man.”“Tea Cake, Ah got tuh have mah sleep. Definitely.”“Good bye, then, Motor. Ah wish you all de luck. Goin’ over tuhNassau fuh dat visit widja when all dis is over.”“Definitely, Tea Cake. Mah mama’s house is yours.”Tea Cake and Janie were some distance from the house before theystruck serious water. Then they had to swim a distance, and Janiecould not hold up more than a few strokes at a time, so Tea Cake boreher up till finally they hit a ridge that led on towards the fill. It seemedto him the wind was weakening a little so he kept looking for a place torest and catch his breath. His wind was gone. Janie was tired andlimping, but she had not had to do that hard swimming in the turbulentwaters, so Tea Cake was much worse off. But they couldn’t stop.Gaining the fill was something but it was no guarantee. The lake wascoming. They had to reach the six-mile bridge. It was high and safeperhaps.Everybody was walking the fill. Hurrying, dragging, falling, crying,calling out names hopefully and hopelessly. Wind and rain beating onold folks and beating on babies. Tea Cake stumbled once or twice in