Foreign Soil: Gaps in the Hickory Summary & Analysis

Ella laughs as she boasts to Delores that she (Ella) is too tough for anyone to mess with her—and if anyone tries, her mother will go after them. Plus, Ella “got a white lady lookin’ out for [her] now.” Delores warned Ella that she’d take her key away if she caught Ella sneaking out again, but Ella knows that Delores doesn’t have it in her to do this.

Delores looks out the window and sighs. She’s tried not to think about her friend Izzy’s death, but it’s hard when it’s the middle of the summer—the time of year Izzy used to call “Izzy’s Still” when they were living in Mississippi. Delores goes to the bathroom to use the toilet. She makes a mental list of everything she has to do for herself, and for organizing the carnival. Her undergarments need a wash, too. Ella giggles that Delores’s lacy pink underwear are “too saucy” for an old woman, but Delores doesn’t care.

Jeanie carries the clothes basket to the children’s room and sits down. It’s summer in Mississippi, and it’s unbearably hot outside. Jeanie looks at Izzy’s crochet blanket spread across Lucy’s bed. It has holes in it from where Lucy pokes her thumb through to suck her thumb—it’s making her teeth appear rabbit-like, which is a shame. At least it’s summer now, though—that means that Jeanie can put off fixing her late mother-in-law’s (Izzy) blanket for a few months.

Jeanie returns to the clothes basket and separates her son’s clothes from her daughter’s clothes, and then she begins to fold them. She got these clothes secondhand, and she drives far away to buy them, since she doesn’t want anyone to know where she’s been shopping. Jackson, her husband, is too proud to have his children “playin’ with some nigger’s leftovers.” Jeanie wanted to ask Jackson why he thought a Black person in their part of Mississippi was any worse off than a white person, but she didn’t ask him.

Jeanie looks out the window; she sees Lucy running around in the yard outside. Jackson is sitting on the porch drinking a beer, and Carter, their son, is talking to Jackson. Jeanie notices that Carter has been digging his fingernails into his palms—a habit that started when his grandma Izzy died. Jackson starts to yell at Carter, and Carter stares at his feet.

Back at Delores’s, Ella barges into the bathroom and teases Delores for staring at herself in the mirror. Delores again tries to scold Ella about sneaking in at night, but Ella talks back. Delores thinks that Ella’s mouth will give her trouble if she doesn’t watch it. She leaves to give Ella privacy in the bathroom—everyone is friendly in the building, and Delores has lived there for 20 years, “but you can never be too sure who gon accuse you-a what where there’s a li’l pickney concerned.”

Delores remembers that Izzy would warn her to watch out with Ella. She told Delores to make up with her son so she could see her own grandpickeys instead of “takin’ in strays from next door.” Delores didn’t like how Izzy called Ella a stray, and she threatened to throw her off the balcony of her New Orleans apartment. Anyway, Izzy didn’t know what she was talking about: she had her grandkids with her in Mississippi. But Delores’s son won’t speak to her ever again.

Jackson stares at Carter as though he wants to ask him something, but no words come out. Jackson asks Carter if he wants to try something. When Carter says no—it’s too hot, he says—Jackson calls him soft. He accuses him of moping around ever since Izzy died. But this is true, and Carter misses Izzy terribly. She died of a cold, which Carter thinks is funny, given how hot it was when she died. She died while she was sleeping in a rocking chair, and the men who took her body away had a hard time straightening her to go on the stretcher. Jeanie ordered him not to watch, but he did anyway. Jackson saw him watching and slapped him on the back, applauding him for not crying. As soon as Jackson turned around, though, Carter broke down.

Jackson finishes cutting a strip of fabric out of a white piece of cloth. He tells Carter that he’ll have to “come ridin’ with [him]” at some point. Carter hates that Jackson and Nate call it that: “ridin’.” When Carter was younger, he thought they had horses somewhere. Later, when he snuck into the bed of Jackson’s truck one night, he learned that this wasn’t true. Jackson drove the truck to a forest. Nate and a bunch of other local men were there. They were all wearing white hoods and capes and singing songs about “Nigger that” and “Nigger this.”  Then they lit a cross on fire. Jackson found Carter and drove him home. Jeanie was furious; Jackson left to return to the forest.  

Jackson notes what a good night it is for “ridin’” and continues to cut fabric. Carter recognizes the fabric: it’s his sister Lucy’s old nightgown. It seems wrong that Jackson is taking the pretty nightgown with him. Carter turns around and sees his mother staring at him from inside; she has an odd expression on her face. Carter turns and watches Lucy dancing and singing on the lawn. He presses his fingernails into his palms.

Jackson is taking forever to go ridin’—he’s been preparing since morning. Carter watches now as Jackson double knots the old nightgown around a stick. Jackson is a large man—just like Carter’s grandfather Denver was. Carter hasn’t met his grandfather, though; he ran away with another woman when Jackson was just a little boy. Jackson finishes his work, then suddenly he tears the leftover piece of nightgown in two. The sound startles Carter.

Back at Delores’s, Delores screams as she rips a wax strip off her chin. Ella tells her to stop—all New Orleans will think someone’s been murdered. Delores reminds Ella that it’s beauty day. Looking at Ella’s “nappy” hair, Delores asks Ella if she wants her to tease it into an Afro. Ella says her mom will “slit [Delores’s] throat” if she messes with Ella’s hair again. Delores laughs; Ella’s mom is a tough lady. She’s raised five children on her own and keeps all of them in line—Ella is the only one who acts out. But Delores loves Ella’s confidence. She and Ella make an odd pair, but Delores loves Ella like she’s one of her own grandchildren. She smiles when they’re out together, Ella pushing the shopping cart or helping with the laundry. 

Ella notes that it’s been a long time since Delores’s friend from Mississippi came to visit. (Izzy used to drive down once a month.) Delores hasn’t been able to tell Ella that Izzy died. She’s been thinking about the kids, Carter and Lucy, a lot lately; Izzy always swore she’d take them out of that house and move them to New Orleans. Delores pauses and then admits to Ella that Izzy died five months ago. Ella tells Delores that she knows. She asks if Delores is okay, and Delores says she is. Delores and Izzy would talk a lot on their visits, and sometimes they’d forget that Ella was there. Once, Izzy admitted that she was afraid of Jackson—even though he was her own son. Now, Ella tells Delores it’s good she’s feeling better—because they need to go check on Carter, like Izzy would’ve wanted them to do.

Jeanie watches Jackson prepare for his evening and thinks about how his “Klan business” has gotten out of hand. He first got into it when he lost his job, insisting that Black people were taking away employment from “real” Americans. But three years later, he’s still at it. And besides, around here, it’s hard to get by whether a person is Black or white. Still, Jeanie isn’t worried that Nate or his people will hurt any Black people—lynchings don’t happen anymore. No, it’s Carter that Jeanie is most worried about.

It was Izzy who told Jeanie about Carter. She told Jeanie she’d caught Carter dressed up in a lacy blouse, Izzy’s old heels, lipstick, and some pearls. Izzy told Jeanie that Carter’s been this way since he was born. He’s a good kid, and Izzy worries what will happen to him the day Jackson discovers the truth about him. Then Izzy handed Jeanie a piece of paper with Jackson’s father’s New Orleans address written on it. Jeanie’s kept it hidden under her mattress, just in case she ever needs it.

Delores fills a kettle with water and lights the stove. She thinks about the Still. Delores hated leaving Mississippi, though she’s grown to love New Orleans. It was Izzy who told Delores to leave—nobody in their small town would accept the way she was. So Delores left—“an lef Izzy to deal with the mess.” Delores occupies herself with preparing a cup of cocoa for Ella. Ella joins her at the table and drinks her cocoa. Delores thinks about Carter and starts to cry. Ella looks at Delores’s teary eyes and asks when they’re going to bring out the nail polish—it’s Beauty Day, after all.

Lucy jumps up and down and demands to know why Jackson is cutting up her clothes. Jackson promises that he’s only cutting up old clothes. Carter turns and looks at his sister. He likes the dress she’s wearing; Izzy bought it for her, he remembers. She brought it back from one of her visits to New Orleans to see her old friend. It was too big for Lucy then, and Izzy winked at Carter as she hung it in the closet. 

Jackson drives away later that night, and Carter and Lucy watch his truck as it disappears into the distance. Carter loves his sister. He also loves all the accessories that arrived once she was born: hair clips, flowery baby soaps, ribbons. Jackson always hated how interested Carter was in Lucy’s girly things. Jeanie assured him that it was just a phase. But Carter has always known that he wasn’t a boy. He’s found ways to keep this a secret, like painting his small toenail with purple polish and keeping it hidden in a sock for a week. 

Delores tips open her blue bucket of nail polish. But Ella doesn’t want to paint her nails anymore. She tells Delores she can’t believe Delores isn’t going to check on Carter. Delores snaps at Ella to stop talking about Carter. When Ella won’t listen, Delores tells her that Beauty Day is cancelled today—Delores has a lot of sewing to do for the carnival. Then she quickly gets up from the couch so that Ella can’t see her cry.

Delores’s thoughts drift back to Mississippi—back to the days when she was Denver, Izzy’s husband. They were married for nine years and already had Jackson when Izzy found out about Delores. Delores can hardly remember being Denver anymore. Denver worked at a meat plant and loved his wife and son. On the outside, he was the perfect Southern man. But on the inside, he was suffering. But that’s not who she is anymore. She became her true self when she moved to New Orleans. 

Ella hugs Delores and says she didn’t want her to cry—she just wants Delores to go get Carter, especially since Delores “know what it be like out there.” Delores freezes. She asks Ella what she means. Ella giggles as she tells Delores that “no real-life born-in-a-lady’s body woman got feet an hands that damn big.” She tells Delores that everyone knows—but nobody cares. Then she asks Delores if there’s any tin spaghetti to eat.

Jeanie opens a can of spaghetti, dumps its contents into a bowl, and places the bowl in the microwave. She thinks about what’s become of Jackson. He used to be so normal, and now everything’s changed. Lucy enters the kitchen, excited to eat spaghetti. Carter follows her inside, looking sullen. Izzy’s warning about Jackson finding out about Carter echoes inside Jeanie’s head. Jeanie tries to say something to Carter but can’t find the words. Instead, she orders Carter to eat his spaghetti. Carter doesn’t budge; he’s always like this “in the Still.” 

Ella eats her spaghetti ravenously. Delores asks if everything is okay at home—if there’s been enough to eat. Ella glares at Delores and says everything’s fine. Just then, there’s a knock at the door. Delores says it’s for Ella. Before Ella leaves, Delores tells her to take some cans of spaghetti to her mother’s house; Delores lies, claiming she doesn’t like tin spaghetti, so Ella doesn’t feel ashamed. The knocking at the door starts up again, startling Ella and Delores. Ella sees a mail truck outside and suggests that it might be the mail carrier knocking. Delores dreads opening the door—she doesn’t want to receive a letter full of bad news, especially if it’s about Carter.

Delores left Newmarket, Mississippi when Jackson was about Carter’s age. It was hard for her, but she and Izzy thought that was best; Jackson was too young to understand it, anyway. Izzy told Delores that Carter asked for his daddy every day that first year. It was hard for Izzy to lie and tell Carter his father had run away with another woman.

Four years ago, Jackson came to visit Delores, though Delores never told Izzy about it. He’d come wanting Denver’s help for one thing or another. When Delores answered the door, Jackson didn’t recognize her. He asked if she was Denver’s “woman.” Before she could stop herself, Delores said, “Hello, Jackson.” Jackson stared at Delores, confused and shocked. Then he backed away and left without saying a word. It was then, according to Izzy, that Jackson changed. That was when his “Klan nonsense” started. Delores knows that Jackson never told Izzy about coming to New Orleans, and Delores didn’t see the point in telling her herself. Ella interrupts Delores’s reveries to shout up to her that she has mail to sign for.

Carter still hasn’t touched his food. Instead, he traces the porcelain plate’s floral pattern. Gram Izzy bought it at the thrift store years ago. When Jackson found out where Izzy got them from, he got angry; he didn’t want to eat off a plate that Black people might have eaten off first. Izzy laughed at him and told him to quit it with the Klan nonsense; she mentioned a little girl named Taneesha that Jackson knew in the third grade, insinuating that Jackson kissed her. Jackson stormed out. That night was the angriest Carter had ever seen his father.

Delores greets the mailman at the door. He hands her an envelope. Delores takes the mail inside; her eyes shake as she opens it. It’s a letter from a lawyer in Mississippi; apparently, Izzy has left her the house. Delores tells Ella about the house, and Ella asks if Delores will move back to Mississippi. Delores is about to explain that she can never go back there, but then it hits her: maybe, in leaving Delores the house, Izzy gave Delores a way to save Carter before it’s too late.

Carter continues to trace the porcelain plate’s floral pattern. He thinks about Gram Izzy. She never had many friends around Newmarket. He knows this had something to do with Carter’s grandpa and the woman he ran away with. The only thing Carter really knows about his grandpa is that Jackson hates him more than anything in the whole world. As Jeanie angrily cleans up a mess Lucy has made, Carter scrapes his uneaten spaghetti into the garbage. Jeanie scolds him. Carter walks to the sink to rinse off his plate. As he does this, he runs his fingers through his long hair, which he hides under a baseball cap when Jackson is home. Then Carter asks Jeanie when Jackson will be home. Jeanie swears, knowing why Carter is asking.

Carter runs to Lucy’s room, opens the wardrobe, and shuts the door. Then he takes off his clothes and changes into Lucy’s clothes, which are covered in glitter and sequins. “His mind unfog itself” when he sees himself in the mirror.

Delores and Ella stare at the papers from the lawyer. Ella asks what Delores wants to do. Delores wipes the sweat from her forehead and blinks; she knows that “Izzy’s soul done leap through the gaps in the elm an the hickory,” and she knows what she has to do.

Jeanie opens the door to Lucy’s room quietly. She sees Carter standing in front of the mirror, his eyes closed, dressed in Lucy’s clothes. Lucy sneaks up behind Jeanie and asks Jeanie, “Ain’t he look beautiful?” Carter opens his eyes and stares back at his mom. She looks gutted. Jeanie tells Carter to get dressed; they’re going for a drive.  

Carter and Lucy hold hands in the back seat as Jeanie backs out of the garage. Carter doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but he knows he’s ready. They’ve been driving for about an hour now, and Jeanie hasn’t spoken the entire time. Carter falls asleep. When he wakes up, it’s nearly dark out; they’ve been on the road for hours. Carter looks around and sees tall buildings and houses built close together. Jeanie tells Carter that they’re in New Orleans. Things are really bad back in Newmarket, so Jeanie’s brought Carter to stay with her grandpa (Delores), like Izzy told her to do. Lucy is too young and will stay back in Mississippi. Carter can’t believe that Jeanie’s going to leave him with a strange man—and a man who ran off and left his family, no less. Jeanie waits in the car with Lucy as Carter approaches the building they’re parked outside of. 

Delores stares down at the street at the dirty car that’s been stopped outside their house for the past 30 minutes. It’s the same one Jackson drove when he came to see her years ago. The car’s back door opens, and a little boy hops out. Ella joins Delores at the window to see who she’s been staring at. She peers down at the street and cries, “Izzy’s Carter!” She calls out to him. Delores can hardly contain her joy: she knows that as soon as she and Carter see each other, they’ll know that they’re family. She walks toward the front door and prepares to greet her grandchild.