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Thank You Ma'am Story

Literature

Uploaded by

Chrisalei Mariane Binayug
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633 views

Thank You Ma'am Story

Literature

Uploaded by

Chrisalei Mariane Binayug
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“Thank You, Ma’am”: plot summary

There is a ‘large woman’ who carries a ‘large purse’ slung over her shoulder. Late one night,
she is walking alone when a boy tries to steal her purse, but because it is so heavy, he ends up falling
backwards. She kicks him in the backside before shaking him vigorously and ordering him to
retrieve her purse from the ground. She then asks him if he is ashamed of himself for trying to rob
her.

The boy, who is dressed in tennis shoes and blue jeans, is around fourteen or fifteen years old
and clearly intimidated by the large, imposing older woman. She comments on how dirty his face is
and it emerges that the boy is not taken care of at home, so the woman takes him back to her home to
wash his face.

The boy just wants her to let him go, but she reminds him that he was the one who imposed
himself upon her when she was minding her business. She reveals that her name is Mrs. Luella Bates
Washington Jones. She comments that if the boy were her son, she would teach him right from
wrong.

Once she has the boy inside the house she shares with other people, she asks his name, which
he reveals to be Roger. She takes him into the kitchenette and finally lets go of him, ordering him to
go to the sink and wash his face. Although Roger initially considers making a run for it, he does as
he is bid and goes to the sink.

As the two of them talk, Mrs. Jones learns that Roger attempted to steal her pocketbook
because he wants money to buy some blue suede shoes. She tells him he could’ve just asked her for
the money: a response which confuses Roger. Again, he thinks of running for it, afraid that she will
take him to jail, but instead, when she offers to cook him something to eat, he sits down and behaves
himself.

Indeed, he even resists the temptation to steal her purse, which she leaves on the table close
to him while she prepares the food. He offers to go to the shop to get food for her if she needs it, and
when she asks if he wants to get some sweet milk for the cocoa she’s preparing, he says that canned
milk will be fine.

As they eat, she tells him about her job in a hotel beauty-shop, and offers him some cake.
Then she gives Roger ten dollars and tells him to buy himself the blue suede shoes he wants, but not
to try to steal from her or anybody else again, because shoes bought from ill-gotten gains would
‘burn your feet’.

As Roger leaves, he wants to thank her more fulsomely than simply saying ‘Thank you,
ma’am’, but finds he is unable to. After that, he never saw her again.

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