Dreamland Burning

Will describes the incident that started the riot as “the day Sarah Page screamed” (132), which happened on Memorial Day. Will doesn’t learn about it until Tuesday, having spent Monday in Pawhuska with his mother’s family. On Tuesday Will goes to a school carnival and sees Clete showing off Eunice as if he isn’t paying for her time, pointedly ignoring Will. Will heads to the shop seeing as Tuesday is the day Ruby visits. Today is the day of Joseph’s last payment, so Will worries that Ruby will stop coming to see him. When he gets off of the train in Tulsa, Will finally hears the headline from a newsboy: “Negro attacks white woman!” (133). Distracted, Will nearly bumps into Vernon Fish when he walks inside. Vernon is raging, holding a copy of the newspaper and promising to mutilate and torture the accused until he pleads for death.

Suddenly worried for Ruby’s safety, Will goes into the back room and calls her name quietly, then again in the back alley, begging Ruby in a loud whisper to stay away. Back in the shop, Vernon shoves a newspaper article at Will. According to the article, a black delivery boy named Dick Rowland, who the article claims calls himself “Diamond Dick,” tried to rape a white 17-year-old elevator girl until she screamed, and he ran away.