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

20Because they really loved Janie just a little less than they had lovedTea Cake, and because they wanted to think well of themselves, theywanted their hostile attitude forgotten. So they blamed it all on Mrs.Turner’s brother and ran him off the muck again. They’d show himabout coming back there posing like he was good looking and puttinghimself where men’s wives could look at him. Even if they didn’t lookit wasn’t his fault, he had put himself in the way.“Naw, Ah ain’t mad wid Janie,” Sop went around explaining. “TeaCake had done gone crazy. You can’t blame her for puhtectin’ herself.She wuz crazy ’bout ’im. Look at de way she put him away. Ah ain’t gotanything in mah heart aginst her. And Ah never woulda thought uhthing, but de very first day dat lap-legged nigger come back heahmakin’ out he wuz lookin’ fuh work, he come astin’ me ’bout how wuzMr. and Mrs. Woods makin’ out. Dat goes tuh show yuh he wuz up tuhsomethin’.”“So when Stew Beef and Bootyny and some of de rest of ’em got behind’im he come runnin’ tuh me tuh save ’im. Ah told ’im, don’t cometuh me wid yo’ hair blowin’ back, ’cause, Ah’m gointuh send yuh, andAh sho did. De bitches’ baby!” That was enough, they eased their feelingsby beating him and running him off. Anyway, their anger againstJanie had lasted two whole days and that was too long to keep rememberinganything. Too much of a strain.They had begged Janie to stay on with them and she had stayed afew weeks to keep them from feeling bad. But the muck meant TeaCake and Tea Cake wasn’t there. So it was just a great expanse of blackmud. She had given away everything in their little house except a