Small Great Things: Chapter 17, Ruth Summary & Analysis

During one of Ruth's shifts in January, she thinks of Edison. He's stopped doing his homework and is sullen and moody, but Ruth doesn't know what to do. A gaggle of white girls gets to the front of the line, engrossed in a text exchange and not ready to order. When Ruth suggests the girls step aside if they're not ready, one girl uses black slang in her reply. Ruth is incredulous. A few minutes later, Ruth leaves her station and tells the girl that she didn't appreciate her attitude. Ruth's boss calls her back to work.

After work, Ruth discovers six missed calls from Kennedy—Adisa apparently involved Wallace Mercy and set up a march in Ruth's honor. Ruth takes the bus to Adisa's apartment. Adisa is thrilled that Ruth heard about the march, but upset when Ruth says she doesn't need Mercy. Before their argument can escalate, one of Adisa's sons bursts in with another boy who turns out to be Edison. Both are dressed like gangsters and say they're going to see a movie, but Ruth doesn't believe it. She grabs Edison and drags him out. As they walk to the bus, Edison apologizes. He says that his cousin isn't so bad, but Ruth implies that Edison shouldn't do this again.

Ruth remembers Edison's birth. She'd had an emergency C-section and Mama had been with her since Wesley was away. When Ruth woke up after the procedure, Mama gave Edison to her. He started to cry, and Ruth panicked. She tried to give him back to Mama, but she wouldn't take him. Ruth whispered to Edison that she was his mama and was going to give him the best life possible.

Near the end of January, Kennedy invites Ruth and Edison to dinner. Micah answers the door with Violet in his arms, dressed in a Tiana costume. Ruth accepts a glass of wine and sits in the living room with Micah and Kennedy. Micah asks Edison about school and if he likes Obama, but Violet interrupts and asks Edison to color with her. She corrects Edison's choice to color Cinderella's dress green and then points to the chain around his neck and says that it means he's a slave. Both Micah and Kennedy shout.

Ruth takes it upon herself to explain slavery to Violet. She gives a brief account of the slave trade to the Americas and says that there's also slavery in the Bible. Ruth notices that during her lesson, Edison removes his chain. She follows Kennedy into the kitchen, where Kennedy again apologizes for Violet and the flawed way they've been talking to her about race. The women laugh and Ruth feels like they have a lot in common. Edison enters the kitchen and gives Ruth her cell phone to answer a call from Ms. Mina.

Ruth remembers getting a black Barbie one year for Christmas. Mama made Barbie clothes out of socks and a dream house out of shoeboxes, but Rachel teased Ruth for it. Rachel's friends teased Ruth too because Ruth didn't fit in with them in Harlem. One afternoon, Rachel's friends descended on her after school, dumped out her backpack, and dismembered her Barbie. Rachel swept in, hit her friends, and took Ruth home, saying that Ruth was her only sister.

Ruth rushes to the hospital; Mama had a stroke and died in the ambulance. Ruth lets herself into Mama's room and gently washes her mother's body. After Ruth finishes, Adisa comes in, wailing. When she finally stops crying, they fall into each other's arms. Adisa says she told Wallace Mercy to go away, and that Ruth is her only sister.

Mama's funeral is a lavish affair in her Harlem church. Ms. Mina has bought the fanciest casket, and people shuffle past, looking at Mama. Ruth wanted to bury Mama in her scarf, but she couldn't find it. When the service begins, Ruth notices that Kennedy and an older woman are there among the sea of black faces. Mama's friends speak and then Adisa speaks. Ruth speaks next and chokes back panic. Her jokes fall flat, but she talks about how the only thing Mama was truly proud of was her children. Ruth wonders if this was actually true as she starts to cry. She thinks back to Mama's words at Christina's slumber party—that they'll be waiting for her when Ruth is ready, and thinks that Mama was referring to this congregation. Adisa finally leads Ruth back to her seat.

The group reconvenes at Mama's apartment after the graveside ceremony. Ruth takes refuge in the kitchen and looks through Mama's partially finished handwritten cookbook. Kennedy interrupts Ruth, introduces Ava, and asks about the cookbook. Bitterly, Ruth says that Mama wasted her life slaving away for someone else and was too busy to finish it. Ava takes an old photograph out and hands it to Ruth. It's of her as a child with Beattie, and Ruth can tell that the two loved each other. Ava says that Mama didn't waste her life as Kennedy embraces Ruth.