Having Our Say Part VI, Chapter 29: Sadie Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • With their mother gone, Sadie becomes the head of the family, more or less. Those are some big shoes to fill.
  • Eventually the city tries to "tear down" their "little cottage" and replace it with projects, but Bessie manages to shame the judge into letting them keep their spot (6.29.7).
  • In the end, the city decides to move their house across the street and build the projects anyway. They even leave the house in the middle of the street overnight but the sisters sleep in it anyway.
  • Although they have good relationships with the families that live in the projects, Sadie doesn't understand how the city could "take people who don't have anything, [...] pack them in a bunch of buildings, and expect it's going to all work out somehow" (6.29.11).
  • But then they visit their brother Hap in Mount Vernon, a suburb just outside of New York. Bessie does some research and they decide to make another move—this time, to the 'burbs!