Stamp Paid visits Paul D at the church to apologize for neglecting to offer him a place to stay after he left 124. He also extends an apology on behalf of the rest of the town for ostracizing Paul D as they had Sethe. Paul D asks about a woman named Judy whom he intends to stay with after the church. He seems to be drunk when he asks about her. Stamp Paid, still intent on righting his wrongs, tells Paul D two stories.

His first story is about how he got his name. Originally called Joshua during his time as an enslaved man, he watched as his master took sexual advantage of his wife Vashti. His master made his wife wear a black ribbon as a marker of his sexual ownership of her. One night, Stamp Paid was so angry with Vashti that he seriously considered murdering her. Mortified by these murderous thoughts, Stamp Paid changed his name instead. The day he wanted to snap his wife’s neck was the lowest he felt during his time enslaved.

When Paul D is confused as to why Stamp Paid is telling him this, Stamp Paid tells a second story about how he was present when Sethe tried to kill all her children and herself in the shed.