The return of the aged Here Boy signals the end of Beloved's tenure at 124. Some eyewitnesses declare that she "exploded right before their eyes." Paul D returns, first to the shed and then to the house, which Bodwin, at his sister's command, intends to sell. Stamp Paid's retelling of the story of Sethe's attack and Ella's quick-witted halting of a second murder pales beside local curiosity about the mysterious, big-bellied, naked black woman who disappeared from the porch.
While walking to work, Paul D passes Denver as she leaves the Bodwins' house and heads toward the shirt factory to apply for a job. More confident, sophisticated, and mature than Paul D remembers her, Denver is unable to answer questions about Beloved's identity and sidesteps Paul D's surmise. Again inside the door of 124, he confronts a mix of "ribbons, bows, bouquets." Hearing Sethe humming in the keeping room, he finds her gravely disoriented and thinking of the days when she made ink for Sweet Home.
Paul D encourages Sethe to get up and take hold of her life. He challenges her to escape the type of withdrawal that Baby Suggs experienced in her waning days by suggesting a bath and foot massage. He listens to her anguish and recalls her courtesy in ignoring "his neck jewelry—its three wands, like attentive baby rattlers, curving two feet into the air." Sethe preserved his shattered manhood on that last day at Sweet Home, and he returns the favor by rebuilding her self-esteem with affirmation that she is worthy.
