Sold on a Monday

They get lost twice on the way but finally reach the home of Bob and Ada Gantry. As they park near the barn, Ellis tells Lily that he wants to do the talking, to make right what he had done wrong. He thinks that once the Gantrys hear the story they will agree to turn Calvin over.

Ellis recounts the story to Bob Gantry. But, surprisingly, Bob says that he paid good money for Calvin and for Calvin’s shots and fees. Lily could see Ada Gantry, “who covered with a look of shame” as her husband was talking (290). Ellis says that he will pay the $20.00. But then Bob adds in expenses, like food and clothing, so Ellis agrees to double the amount. When Ellis tells him that they do not have the money on them, Gantry tells them to get off their property. When Ellis makes a move to open a door and check for Calvin, Bob calls for his shotgun and Lily quickly tells Bob they are leaving. 

information, Lily wants to know the plan, but Ellis wants her to take the train back. She refuses because she senses that he is planning “to do something foolish” (294). But Ellis cannot concentrate with Lily around. Since he learned of her proposal, she is constantly on his mind. When Lily explained her reasons for marrying Clayton, Ellis only wanted to tell her not to marry him. But he cannot say a bad word against Clayton, and he is, after all, penniless.

Ellis spots a light coming from the barn, so they check it out. In the barn they find some crumbs, a tin can filled with urine, and little Calvin asleep. Ellis convinces Calvin to come with him, but cannot pick him up because Calvin is “tethered to a thick leather band” (300). Ellis breaks the links just as someone enters the barn. They run for the car as a shot rings out. Once on the road, as Lily squeezes Ellis’s hand, they hear the roar of a truck behind them, but it eventually passes them.

Lily and Ellis are at his apartment. Ellis calls Geraldine to tell her to meet them after 9:00 am, after they hope to have Ruby and Calvin. Rather than bathing and feeding Calvin, Ellis removes the cuff and they let him sleep. Lily thanks Ellis for agreeing that she should get Ruby, then Lily falls asleep beside Calvin. She wakes to the sound of knocking and fearing that it is Gantry. Ellis is up, with a knife in his hand, but it is only Geraldine. She wants to see Calvin. 

Ellis does not know what Calvin knows about his mother, whether, like Ruby, he knows that Geraldine had been sick, or what the Millstones told him. But he slowly approaches his mother and tells her, “I love you” (308).

Lily and Ellis tell Geraldine the plan to pick up Ruby at 8:00 am. Geraldine’s “staunchness clearly surprised Ellis as much as it did Lily,” as she informs them she’ll be accompanying them (308). Geraldine wonders about Sylvia. If she really is so unstable, perhaps she has already taken Ruby away.