Chapter 14 Summary

In the Everglades, Tea Cake gets a job picking beans. Janie marvels at what Tea Cake calls "the muck"—the ten-feet-tall grass and the rich, black soil. Everything seems big and new. The season has not yet started, so Tea Cake buys some guns and teaches Janie how to shoot. She gets to be a better shot than Tea Cake, and she busies herself hunting and cooking and making a home. Eventually, the migrant workers pour in, people who live for nothing but the day and a good laugh. Tea Cake and Janie's house becomes the center of the fun, filled with good jokes, gambling and Tea Cake's music. Other nights are spent at the jukebox, dancing, singing, fighting, crying and laughing. After a while, Tea Cake asks Janie to come work with him in the fields, since he cannot stand to be...