Johnson, a working-class African American man, awakes from a bad night’s sleep. Working night shifts doesn’t agree him, so not only is he exhausted but he has slept through his opportunity to make breakfast for his wife Mae, who also works nights. The couple playfully banter for a time, and Mae says that seeing Johnson wrapped up in their bedsheet reminds her of “a huckleberry—in a winding sheet.” As the two leave for work Mae realizes it is Friday the thirteenth and wants to stay home, as she believes the date is unlucky. Johnson lovingly persuades her, though he mentally notes that many men would have reacted more harshly. Despite his aching legs, Johnson finally arrives at work at the “plant” and meditates on how his workplace could be reorganized to make the work less tiring. As he is late, Johnson attracts the attention of the white forewoman. She verbally attacks him, spitting out racial slurs. In a moment of anger, he fantasizes about striking her. Instead, he physically intimidates her and insists that she no longer use such offensive language. She backs off uneasily and apologizes.
The night wears on and Johnson becomes progressively more exhausted. As he is leaving work he wants to avoid the packed subway car and stops outside a restaurant. He sees a number of his coworkers in line for coffee, so he enters and waits in line. When it is his turn the white waitress casually tells him that there is no coffee left. Johnson interprets her gestures and tone of voice to indicate casual racism at his expense and has another violent fantasy about attacking her. He leaves in disgust and does not look back. If he had turned back, however, he would have seen that the waitress was genuinely out of coffee and that lots of white people were also turned away.
Now incredibly tired and bitter, Johnson returns home. Here he finds Mae, and sits down on the overalls that she wears for work. She complains that he will wrinkle them and asks him to stand up, but he pays no attention. She begins to playfully needle him, and in doing so unwittingly echoes the forewoman’s language and the waitress’s gesture. Feeling himself losing control, Johnson violently beats her, hitting her over and over. He feels that he has lost all control of his hands and that he can’t stop what he’s doing, as if his body is tightly wrapped in “a winding sheet.”
