Milkman tries to persuade his father to support him financially for a year so that he can travel and find his own niche in life. In return, he offers to work for free for one year upon his return. Macon dismisses Milkman’s offer, insisting that he needs Milkman to help him run his business.
Later, Macon and Milkman meet for lunch in a park, where Macon, inspired by Milkman’s off-handed mention of a green sack, filled with something heavy and hard, hanging from the ceiling in Pilate’s house, tells his son the rest of his personal story, which he began recounting in Chapter 2, about his father’s murder and his and Pilate’s escape from Montour County, Pennsylvania, with the help of Circe, the midwife who had delivered them both. He narrates how his father’s ghost led him and Pilate to the shelter of a cave, where they encountered an old white man, whom Macon ended up stabbing. Afterward, he and Pilate argued about the dead man’s gold, which they found in the cave. Because they could not agree on what to do with the gold, Pilate threatened to kill Macon, who fled. As Macon ends his story, he pleads with Milkman to steal Pilate’s green sack, which he claims contains the gold from the cave. In return, he promises to give Milkman half of the gold so that he can go wherever he wants to go.
