Back in the present, Elizabeth weeps for John, wondering what kind of trials he will have to face in his life. Would he be forced to pay for the sins of his mother and father? When he was born, should she have given him to another family who would have loved him more than her husband, Gabriel, ever had? She knows that if Gabriel loves her it is only because she is the mother of his son Roy. Then she remembers how she had come to know Gabriel.
Florence had been Elizabeth's friend. The two of them talked over coffee after work and talked about their lives. One Sunday, Elizabeth took the infant John to Florence's house. It was then that Florence told her that she had a brother who would be moving to New York soon. Though Florence had not seen Gabriel in more than 20 years, she was not looking forward to his arrival because she believed the years had not changed him.
Elizabeth met Gabriel a few weeks later, and he made her feel that there was hope that she could again be a woman worthy of respect. Florence did not approve of the developing romance and often said so. Yet Gabriel was very good to Elizabeth and treated John as if he were his own son. When Gabriel asked Elizabeth to be his wife, promising to love and honor her and to provide for and love John like a son, she accepted his proposal.
A cry from John interrupts Elizabeth's reminiscence, and she opens her eyes to see John lying on the floor, overcome by the power of God.
