Good Dirt

Ed talks to Soh. He reflects on the fact that his colleague, Tucker, was interested in the jar and wonders if Tucker might have said something to someone who decided to commit robbery. Ed confesses that he got insurance money for the jar but never told Soh about it. He shows her the piece of wood with the X that always sat in Old Mo.

It is the year 2000. The robbers have always been careful planners. No one is supposed to be at the house. This is supposed to be their last job as the guy who hired them is close to the insurance industry. They force the boy to show them the jar, but when he shouts at them, one of them is frightened into firing a weapon. Now they have committed murder. Panicked, they flee. They never hear from the client again, until they learn that he was in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

Tucker’s widow finds a place where she can “live without accountability” (307).

Back in 2019, Ed and Soh bring Ebby downstairs to show her that Old Mo has been repaired. Ed explains that he retrieved the pieces when he visited the old house, sobbing at the sight of Baz’s blood on the floor. He says, “I couldn’t bear to let go of it, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell your mother or you that I had saved it. It was too much a reminder of your brother’s death” (309). Soh realizes that when she thought her husband was being secretive, he was making arrangements to have Old Mo repaired. Ed suggests that maybe Old Mo isn’t meant to belong to the Freemans alone.

Ed shows the restored jar to his parents, who are glad to see it. They are less glad that Ebby invites Henry to come take pictures of Old Mo. Gramps Freeman talks about Willis’s skill at painting and drawing and shares his sketches, some of them of whaling ships. Ed thinks about how he had always wanted to try sailing.

Speaking with her grandmother, Ebby explains her reasons for asking for Henry’s help. She knows that “Henry thinks he wants Ebby back, but what Henry really wants is to be able to forgive himself” (318). Granny Freeman has lined up another photographer, who is African American.

Ebby gets a reminder on her phone of Baz’s birthday. She reminds herself that Baz’s death is not her fault, even though she begged for one more game of hide-and-seek. She believes that her family is ready to share the jar and its message.

In January 2020, it is Baz’s birthday and 20 years have passed since his death. Soh remembers how Adelaide Pitts helped Soh through her grief. She wants to remember how her son lived rather than dwelling on the pain of his death. She reflects on the fact that she willed herself to stay alive for her daughter.

It is January 15, 2020—Baz’s 35th birthday. Ed gives a speech at the opening of the museum gallery that will house Old Mo. He describes the history of the jar, explaining how it was broken and how it was repaired. He speaks of Moses and of his ancestors and reminds his audience that the history of African Americans is “part of the complex fabric of this country” (327).

Henry enjoys seeing his picture in the paper. He felt that he owed Ebby a favor after how he had behaved. He is now struck by a news item about a woman who tried to sell a stoneware jug from her late husband’s art collection and learned it had been stolen from a home.

In February 2021, Ebby takes a picture of herself to post to her first ever social media account. She has also posted information about the jar. She is happy to have Robert living with her.

Among the people waiting in line for admission to the museum gallery to see the jar is the emergency dispatcher who remembers when Ebby called to report that her brother had been shot. She recognizes Ebby when she sees her, though Ebby does not recognize her.

In 2000, Baz agrees to play one more game of hide-and-seek with Ebby, though he can tell from the sounds in the house where she is hiding. Suddenly, he hears someone at the front door.

Old Mo is available to touch on display, and there is a camera for taking selfies. Sketches by Willis and other artifacts and photos are on display at the museum. Ebby greets Avery, who has come to the gallery.

Among Willis’s sketches is a drawing of a sailor named Afam. He was kidnapped and enslaved but eventually bought his freedom.

Soh loves seeing Old Mo in the gallery and thinking about how the jar continues to touch people’s lives. She enjoys thinking “that something that has been broken can be pieced back together” (341).

Ebby is delighted to look at the selfie pictures from the exhibit and see how many people are embracing Old Mo. She is touched by one picture of someone holding a sign with the inscription that Moses wrote on the bottom of the jar: “The mind cannot be chained” (343).

In 1867, Moses has kept in touch with Willis. After the war, Moses opened a pottery and brickmaking business with a partner. He has heard about the violence being done to those who were formerly enslaved, but he is hopeful. He has taken on two young apprentices and thinks that “there was no turning back now. All he could do was keeping moving forward” (346).