Milkman returns to Susan Byrd’s house to ask her about Jake, and Susan tells him the story of Jake’s father, Solomon, the Flying African. She also tells Milkman that although the townspeople were led to believe that Sing Byrd (whose real name was Singing Bird) left Shalimar to attend a private Quaker school in Boston, she actually ran off with Jake and a wagonload of ex-slaves, supposedly headed for Boston. Since Jake couldn’t read, perhaps he mistakenly took a wrong turn and ended up in Pennsylvania.
Susan also tells Milkman the story of Solomon’s wife, Ryna, who went mad when Solomon flew off, leaving her behind. As a result, Heddy, an old Indian woman, raised Jake, the youngest of Solomon’s twenty-one children and the only one whom Solomon tried to take with him when he flew away. Heddy was devastated when Sing and Jake ran away, leaving her alone with her youngest son, Crowell Byrd (originally named Crow Bird), Susan’s father.
