In bed one night on the pallet she shares with her brother, Lizabeth hears her parents arguing about finances. Lizabeth realizes that her father is bitterly upset at the poverty the family lives in and his inability to earn a living. He hates that he can't provide for them and that he is dependent on his wife's earnings.

Lizabeth's mother, Maybelle, argues back gently, saying that she makes enough to keep them from starving. She states that the family she works for, the Ellis's, are kind about giving her things, such as Mr. Ellis's old coat for her husband. At this point, her husband has an outburst saying:

Damn Mr. Ellis's coat! And damn his money! You think I want white folks' leavings?

When he starts to cry, despite Maybelle's comforting words that he provided for them generously when he could, Lizabeth begins to feel very uncomfortable. She has always seen her father as the tower of strength in the family and now has the confused realization that her mother has become the new bastion of strength. She also has not been completely aware of the family's poverty because they don't have access to magazines and radio, and everyone around them is equally poor and hungry.

The argument leads to Lizabeth experiencing "bewilderment" and "fear." She tramples and destroys Miss Lottie's marigolds as an inappropriate and childish way to deal these confused emotions. She is growing up and groping at this point with how to deal with adulthood.