Mr. Avery Gatson, the policeman, drives Lily and Rosaleen to jail while the three white men follow in their pickup truck. Lily is impressed by how resolute and strong Rosaleen seems. When they arrive at the jail, the three men are waiting. They demand that Rosaleen apologize. When she refuses, one hits her on the head with a flashlight. Mr. Gatson then takes the two women into jail. T. Ray soon comes to take Lily out, but they leave Rosaleen behind. While driving home, T. Ray tells Lily that one of Rosaleen’s three attackers—Franklin Posey—is the town’s worst racist and that he will kill Rosaleen even if she does apologize. At home, T. Ray scolds Lily harshly, but she stands up to him. She tells him that her mother will not let him harm her, but he laughs at the idea that her dead mother functions as her guardian angel. He tells Lily that Deborah had already abandoned Lily when she returned home and was killed. This comment hurts Lily deeply, but she does not believe T. Ray. She notices that the bee jar next to her bed is empty, and she realizes that she too needs to escape her own jar. She needs to run away.
