Nel hadn’t seen Sula in three years, but she had heard that her old friend was sick, so she had to go check on her. She would be visiting, though, “with the taste of Jude’s exit in her mouth” (138). With him gone, Nel was fully responsible for the household. She took a job as a chambermaid at the hotel in which Jude had worked to avoid spending the pension money on which her parents had lived. The money wasn’t good, but the hours were, as she was home when the children got in from school.

When she arrived, Sula asked if Nel could go retrieve some prescribed medicine for her. The prescription slip was in her handbag. When Nel opened the purse, she saw that Sula had no wallet or change purse inside. Nel began to ask about this, but the way that Sula was staring at the boarded up window, the one that Eva had once jumped out of, made her think better of it. She took the slip of paper and went out.

When Nel returned with the medicine, she watched as Sula poured it onto a spoon. Nel tried to tell Sula that she looked good, but Sula quickly dismissed her lie.