Chapter 5, Hurry Up! Hurry Up! Summary

When he was a junior in high school, Langston's mother and his stepfather reunited in Cleveland. One day Langston and a white friend went to a cafeteria for lunch. His friend's meal cost forty-five cents; Langston's, according to the clerk, would cost him eight dollars and sixty-five cents; the price for being black. Humiliated, Langston left his food at the counter and sat down to watch his friend eat.

That spring, Langston was invited to spend the summer with his father, James Hughes, in Toluca, Mexico. He did, and soon found that his father was a cold man, who only cared about making money. His father hated American blacks and Mexicans, saying they were lazy and foolish. Disgusted by his father's attitude, Langston soon came down with the 'blues.' His father offered to take...