The Joads are one of the first families to get work picking cotton, so they are able to live in one of the boxcars. They share this dwelling with another family, the Wainwrights. The Joads are able to earn enough money to have meat each night and are able to buy some new clothing and some Cracker Jacks for the children.
While Ma is cooking supper that evening, Winfield rushes in to tell her that Ruthie has gotten into a fight and childishly boasted to the other children that her big brother was hiding because he had killed two men. Ma is instantly concerned. Leaving the others to eat, she goes to the hidden culvert to warn Tom.
She meets Tom who takes her back to the lightless cave he has been hiding in. Explaining what Ruthie has done, she tells him that he'll need to go far away. Tom agrees. Ma hasn't seen Tom since he has been in hiding, and there is no light in the cave, so she touches his face to remember him. He tells her that while he has been alone, he has thought a lot about Jim Casy and what he taught.
