Stamp Paid, pondering the source of his name and wondering if he owed a debt to Denver and Baby Suggs, discusses Sethe's strange household with Ella, who was one of many black neighbors to snub Sethe after Beloved's murder. Ella suggests that Stamp Paid may find answers to his questions from Paul D, who has been sleeping at the church. Stamp Paid chides Ella for not opening her own home to Paul D in a time of need. He rejects Ella's criticisms of Sethe and acknowledges that his own meddling caused Paul D to leave 124.
As Sethe ends her day's work for Sawyer, she recalls how trusting she was at Sweet Home before Mr. Garner's death, when things changed and slaves had to steal, lie, and deceive in order to endure life. She recalls her humiliation at hearing schoolteacher instruct his nephews to catalogue her human traits and her animal traits. The realization that Buglar and Howard would soon be large enough for schoolteacher to sell disturbed her sleep. Sethe congratulates herself for managing to save her children from slavery.
