A moment after Walter left the apartment, his mother came out of her room. She was in her early sixties, and she was full-bodied and strong. She was graceful and beautiful. Her dark brown face was surrounded by completely white hair. Her face was full of strength. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, and she walked very tall and straight. Her name was Lena, and her children and daughter-in-law called her Mama.

“Who was slamming the door this early?” Lena said to Ruth as she came into the kitchen. Her voice was soft. Unlike her children, she was from the South and had a southern accent.

Lena walked to the window and opened it. The air outside was cold, and the wind blew into the apartment. Lena reached out the window and picked up a little potted plant. She felt the dirt to see if it needed some water. She thought for a moment, and then she put the plant back outside.

“That was Walter Lee,” replied Ruth. “He and Bennie were fighting again.”

Lena shook her head and said, “My children and their tempers.” She looked at the little plant through the window and said, “Lord, if this little old plant doesn’t get more sun than it has been getting, it is never going to see spring again.”

Lena turned away from the window and looked at Ruth for the first time that morning. She noticed how tired her daughter-in-law looked. “What’s the matter with you this morning, Ruth?” she asked kindly. “You look exhausted.” She looked at all of the clothes in front of Ruth. “Are you going to iron all of those things? Leave some for me. I’ll get to them this afternoon.”

Then Lena looked at her daughter sitting at the table. She said lovingly, “Bennie honey, it’s too cold for you to be sitting here half-dressed. Where’s your robe?”

Beneatha said simply, “It’s at the cleaners.”

Her mother replied, “Well, go get mine and put it on.”

Beneatha said, “I’m not cold, Mama, honestly.”

Lena shook her head and said, “I know, but you’re so thin.”

“Mama, I’m not cold!”

Lena wasn’t listening. She was already moving to the little living room. She went to the couch and said sweetly, “Lord have mercy, look at that poor bed. Bless his heart—he tries, doesn’t he?” She went to the couch and began folding the blankets again.

Ruth laughed a little. “No, he doesn’t try at all because he knows you’re going to come along behind him and fix everything. That’s why he doesn’t know how to do anything right now. You’ve spoiled that boy.”

Lena kept folding the blankets and said softly, “Well, he’s a little boy. He’s not supposed to know about housekeeping. He’s just my baby.” She finished folding the blanket. “What did you make for his breakfast this morning?”

Ruth said a little impatiently, “I feed my son, Lena!”

Very quietly Lena replied, “I’m not meddling. I just noticed all last week he had cold cereal, and when it starts getting this chilly in the fall, a child ought to have some hot grits or something when he goes out in the cold.”

Ruth was frustrated. She said, “I gave him hot oats this morning. Is that alright?”

Lena repeated very quietly, “I’m not meddling.” Then she said, “Did you put a lot of nice butter on it?” Ruth looked at her angrily, then Lena said, “He likes lots of butter.”

“Lena!” said Ruth. She was exasperated. She loved her mother-in-law, but sometimes it was difficult to live together. Lena was always giving advice and telling her how to take care of her son.

Lena’s attention moved to her daughter. She asked Beneatha what she and Walter were arguing about that morning, but Beneatha only said that it wasn’t important.

Beneatha heard a door close in the hallway. She looked up suddenly. The bathroom was free! She rushed out the door before another person could come to use it.

Lena saw her opportunity. She asked Ruth what Walter and Beneatha were fighting about.

Ruth said simply, “You know what they were fighting about.”

Lena shook her head, “Is Walter still worrying about that money?”

Ruth nodded. “You know he is.”

“Did you have breakfast yet?” asked Lena. When Ruth said that she only had some coffee, Lena told her to eat some more. “You had better start eating and looking after yourself better. You’re almost as thin as Travis.”

Ruth sighed. She thought about Walter and his idea of starting a business. She decided to ask Lena about it. “What are you going to do with the money?”

Lena shook her head. “Don’t you start, child. It’s too early in the morning to talk about money. It’s not Christian.”

“It’s just that he has his heart set on that store—”

Lena interrupted her. “Do you mean that liquor store that Willy Harris wants him to invest in? Ruth, we aren’t business people. We’re just plain working folks.”

“But nobody is a business person until they go into business,” said Ruth. “Walter Lee says he needs to do this. He talks about investments and getting ahead in the world. ” She paused for a moment and then said thoughtfully, “Mama, something is happening between Walter and me. I don’t know what it is, but he needs something. He needs something that I can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena.”

Lena thought for a moment and frowned. She didn’t like the idea. “But liquor, honey.”

Ruth continued, “Well, like Walter says, people are always going to drink liquor.”

Lena kept frowning. “Well, whether they drink it or not is none of my business. But whether I go into business selling it to them is, and I don’t want that on my conscience.” She stopped speaking for a moment and looked carefully at her daughter-in-law. “Ruth Younger, what’s the matter with you today? You look like you could fall over right there.”

Ruth was so tired. She put one hand on her head and the other on the ironing board. There was so much work to do.

“You had better stay home from work today, Ruth.”

Ruth started ironing again. “No, I can’t stay home. My boss would call up the office and scream at them. ‘My girl didn’t come in today, send me somebody else! My girl didn’t come in!’ Oh, she would have a fit…”

Mama said that Ruth should call in anyway and tell them that she had the flu.

Ruth laughed, “Why the flu?”

Mama said, “It sounds respectable to them. Something white people get, too. They know about the flu. Otherwise they think you aren’t really sick.”

Ruth shook her head. “I have to go in. We need the money.”

Money money money! All Lena’s children thought about was money. “Money! We have a great big check coming in tomorrow. Don’t worry about money!”

“That’s your money,” said Ruth firmly. “It doesn’t have anything to do with me. We all feel like that, Walter and Bennie and me, even Travis.”

Lena looked out the window for a moment and said very quietly, “Ten thousand dollars…”

“It sure is wonderful,” said Ruth with a little smile.

“Ten thousand dollars,” Lena said again.

“You know what you should do, Miss Lena?” said Ruth with some excitement. “You should take a trip somewhere. Go to Europe or South America or someplace —”

Lena laughed.

“I’m serious!” said Ruth. “Just pack up and leave. Go away and enjoy yourself. Forget about the family and have some fun for once in your life!” Lena laughed and shook her head. “What are you going to do with it then?” asked Ruth.

Lena thought for a moment and spoke quietly. “I haven’t decided.” Then she said more confidently, “Some of it should go towards Beneatha’s school.” She thought again for another moment, and then less confidently, she said, “I’ve been thinking that we could maybe buy a little old house somewhere… with a yard where Travis could play in the summer. We could use the insurance money for a down-payment and everybody could pay for part of the mortgage each month. I could maybe work a little, just a few days a week.”

Ruth kept ironing, but she was looking at her mother-in-law out of the corner of her eyes. A house! Could they really have a house? She laughed nervously, “Well, Lord knows, we’ve put enough rent into this awful apartment to pay for four houses by now…”

Lena looked up. Was the apartment so awful? She looked around at the small, dark rooms and the worn-out furniture. “Yes, it’s an awful little apartment now, isn’t it.” She smiled sadly. “I remember the day Big Walter and I moved in here. We had only been married for about two weeks. We weren’t planning to live here for more than one year.” She shook her head and thought about the big dreams they used to have. “We were going to save some money each month and buy a little house in Morgan Park. We even picked out a house.” She laughed a little. “Lord, child, you should know all the dreams I had about buying that house and fixing it up and making myself a little garden in the back.” Her smile went away and she said very quietly. “And it never happened.”

Ruth kept her head down. She thought about her own life and her own dreams. “Yes, life can be full of disappointments,” she said.

Lena sighed. “Before he died, Big Walter would come in here some nights and just sit down on that couch. He would look down at the rug, then look at me, and then back at the rug. I knew he was down, really down.” She thought about those days. They were hard days. But Big Walter loved his family, and he worked hard for them. He had two grown children, but a third child died as a baby. Lena thought about the baby and Big Walter. “When I lost little Claude, I almost thought I was going to lose Big Walter, too. Oh, that man grieved! He loved his children.”

Sometimes Lena thought that Big Walter worked so hard because he was angry. He was angry with the world because it took away his baby. Sometimes Lena thought Big Walter worked himself to death.

Ruth said softly, “He was a fine man. I always liked Mr. Younger.”

Lena nodded proudly, “He was crazy about his children! God knows there was plenty wrong with Big Walter. He was hard-headed. Sometimes he was mean. There was plenty wrong with him. But he really loved his children. He always wanted them to have something. He wanted them to be something. I think that’s where Walter Lee gets all of his ideas.” Lena smiled as she thought about her husband and son. They were very similar sometimes. “Big Walter used to say, ‘It seems like God didn’t give us anything but dreams, but he gave us children to make those dreams seem worthwhile.’”

Ruth said again, “He was a good man.”

“Yes,” said Lena, “he was a fine man. He just never caught up with his dreams, that’s all.”

At that moment, Beneatha came back into the living room from the bathroom. She was brushing her hair. A vacuum cleaner started on the floor above their apartment, and Beneatha looked up at the ceiling. “Does she have to clean those rugs everyday?” she said, shaking her head at the noise.

Ruth laughed a little, “I wish you would clean some rugs sometimes.”

Beneatha said impatiently, “How much cleaning can an apartment need, for Christ’s sake.”

Lena gasped and said, “Bennie!”

“Oh, God!” said Beneatha, rolling her eyes.

Lena started to get very angry. “If you use the Lord’s name just one more time.” Lena was a Christian, and she didn’t like it when her children said ‘Christ’ or ‘God’ casually.

Beneatha whined, “Oh, Mama, don’t be mad at me.”

Lena tried to change the subject. “What time will you be home from school today?”

“Kind of late,” Beneatha’s face brightened and she spoke excitedly, “I’m going to start my guitar lessons today.”

Lena and Ruth looked at each other with an exasperated expression.

“What kind of lessons did you say?” asked Lena doubtfully.

“Guitar.”

Ruth laughed to herself.

“Why did you decide to learn to play the guitar all of a sudden?” asked her mother with a frown.

“I just want to, that’s all,” replied Beneatha casually.

Lena smiled, “Lord, child, don’t you know what to do with yourself? How long is it going to be before you get tired of guitar? Like you got tired of that theater group you joined last year?” She looked at Ruth, “And what was it the year before that?”

Ruth laughed a little, “The horseback-riding club. Do you remember, she bought that fifty-five dollar riding outfit? It has been hanging in the closet ever since!”

Lena looked at Beneatha with concern, “Why do you go from one thing to another, baby? Don’t you know what you want?”

Beneatha said sharply, “I just want to learn to play the guitar. Is there anything wrong with that?”

Lena sighed. “Nobody is trying to stop you. I just wonder why you have to go from one thing to another all the time. You never did anything with all that camera equipment you brought home—”

Beneatha interrupted her defensively. “So what? I experiment with different forms of expression! People have to express themselves one way or another.”

Her mother didn’t understand. Sometimes her children seemed so strange and different. “What is it that you want to express?” she asked in confusion.

Beneatha was angry now. She pointed to her chest and said, “Me!”

Lena and Ruth looked at each other and began to laugh.

Beneatha was embarrassed, but said confidently. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to understand.”

Lena saw that Beneatha was embarrassed and changed the subject of conversation again. “Who are you going out with tomorrow night?” Beneatha was very social and had many friends. She always saw them during the weekends.

Beneatha frowned a little and answered, “George Murchison again.”

Lena was pleased. She liked George. She asked her daughter, “Do you like him?”

Ruth laughed a little and said, “If you ask me, this child only likes herself!”

Beneatha ignored Ruth. “Oh, I like George a little, Mama. I mean I like him enough to go out with him and stuff, but—”

Ruth looked up and teased Beneatha, “And stuff? What does ‘and stuff’ mean?”

Beneatha said simply, “Mind your own business.”

Lena didn’t like all this teasing. “Stop picking on her, Ruth.” She laughed a little. Then she thought a little and gave Beneatha a stern look. “What does ‘and stuff’ mean?”

Beneatha sighed and said with a tired voice, “Oh I just mean I can’t ever be really serious about George. He’s so shallow.”

Ruth looked at her in disbelief. “Shallow! What do you mean he’s shallow? He’s rich!”

“I know he’s rich.” Beneatha replied. “He knows he’s rich, too.”

Ruth shook her head, “Well, what other qualities are important?”

Beneatha rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t even begin to understand. Anybody who married Walter could not possibly understand.” Beneatha thought her brother was crazy. He had too many big, bad ideas about making money. She thought about George. George had money, but he didn’t have crazy ideas. “George looks good, he’s got a beautiful car and he takes me to nice places, and he is probably the richest boy I will ever know. I even like him sometimes,” she said. “But if you are waiting to see if I will ever marry him, you’re wasting your time.”

Ruth couldn’t believe it. “Do you mean that you wouldn’t marry George Murchison if he asked you someday? He’s so handsome and rich. I knew you were strange, but—”

Beneatha interrupted her. “No, I would not marry him. I don’t love him. Besides, George’s family wouldn’t really like it.”

“Why not?” asked Lena proudly.

“Oh, Mama,” Beneatha said, “The Murchisons are honest-to-God, real rich Black people, and the only people in the world who are more snobbish than rich White people are rich Black people. I thought everybody knew that. I’ve met Mrs. Murchison. She’s a snob!”

Lena frowned. “Honey, you shouldn’t dislike people because they have a lot of money.”

“Why not?” responded Beneatha. “A lot of people dislike people for being poor. Look,” she said to Ruth and her mother, “I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet, if I ever get married—”

“If!” said Lena and Ruth at the same time.

“Oh, I probably will,” said Beneatha reassuringly. “But first I’m going to be a doctor. And George still thinks that’s pretty funny. He doesn’t respect that, so I can’t respect him. I’m going to be a doctor and everybody around here had better understand that!”

Lena said to her daughter kindly, “Of course you’re going to be a doctor honey, God willing.”

Beneatha frowned and said, “God doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

Lena’s smile went away. “Beneatha, that wasn’t necessary.”

“Well God isn’t necessary either,” said Beneatha angrily. “I’m sick of hearing about God.” She saw her mother gasp. “I mean it! I’m just tired of hearing about God all the time. What does he have to do with anything? Does he pay tuition?”

Lena was beginning to be very angry. “Don’t say things like that. It doesn’t sound nice for a young girl to say things like that. You weren’t brought up that way. Your father and I took you and your brother to church every Sunday.”

Beneatha tried to explain to her mother, “Mama, you don’t understand. It’s a matter of ideas, and God is just one idea that I don’t accept.” She started getting ready to go to school as she talked. “It’s not important. I am not going to be immoral or commit crimes because I don’t believe in God. I don’t even think about it.” She finished putting her earrings in and said, “It’s just that I get tired of Him getting credit for all of the things that people achieve through their own effort. There simply is no God. There are only people, and it is people who make miracles!”

Slowly, Lena stood up. She had a terrible frown on her face. How could her daughter say such awful words? She walked to Beneatha, looked her in the face, and slapped her across the cheek.

“Now,” said Lena slowly in a strong, angry voice, “You repeat after me: in my mother’s house, there is still God.”

The room was silent. Beneatha stared at the floor. Then she said very quietly and quickly, “In my mother’s house, there is still God.”

Lena turned and walked back towards the kitchen, “There are some ideas we are not going to have in this house. Not as long as I am at the head of this family.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said her daughter quietly. Lena walked out of the room and left Ruth and Beneatha alone.

Ruth said gently, “You think you’re a woman, Bennie, but you’re still a little girl. That was very childish, so you got treated like a child.”

Beneatha said quietly, “I see. I also see that everybody thinks it’s alright for Mama to be a tyrant.” She picked up her books and walked towards the door. “But all the tyranny in the world will never put a God in the heavens!” Beneatha walked proudly out the door and left to go to school.

A few moments later, Ruth put her iron down again on the ironing board and went to Lena’s door. She leaned against the door and said quietly, “She said she was sorry.”

Lena came back out and walked to the window to look at her little plant again. She told Ruth that she was frightened by her children sometimes.

“You have good children,” Ruth said. “They are just a little difficult sometimes, but they’re good.”

Lena looked at the weak little plant outside the window. “No, there’s something between us, and I don’t know what it is. We can’t understand each other. My son is always thinking about money, and my daughter is always talking about things I can’t understand at all. What is changing, Ruth?”

Ruth tried to comfort her mother-in-law. “You’re talking too seriously,” she said. “You have strong-willed children, and they need a strong woman like you to help them in life.”

Lena brought the plant inside and poured a little sprinkle of water on it. “They’re spirited,” she said. “Bennie and Walter. Like this little old plant. This plant has never had enough sunshine, but look at it.”

Lena wasn’t looking at Ruth, so she didn’t see how tired Ruth was at that moment. Ruth put her hand on her forehead and leaned against the table for a moment. “You sure love that little old plant don’t you?” said Ruth with a tired laugh.

“Well, I always wanted a garden. This plant is as close as I ever got to having one.” Lena looked out the window again and put the plant outside into the dim light. “Lord, nothing is as dreary as the view from this window on a cloudy day. Why aren’t you singing this morning, Ruth?” she asked. “Sing that song, ‘No Ways Tired.’ That song always helps me feel better.”

Lena turned around to look at Ruth. Suddenly, Ruth fell down onto the floor. Lena rushed over to help her. “Ruth! Ruth, honey! What’s the matter with you? Ruth!”