The Reformatory: A Novel

Gloria is restless that night, anxiously reflecting on the day’s events. Her father, Robert, fled to Chicago after his attempt to unionize Black mill workers prompted white men to attack Gracetown’s Black community and burn the Stephenses’ new house with the objective of lynching Robert. To vilify Robert further, the men falsely accused him of raping a white woman.

Gloria considers escaping to Chicago, but she and Robbie have no money to make the journey. She writes a letter to her father, reporting what happened and asking for help. The following morning, the sheriff’s deputy comes for Robbie.

The deputy takes Robbie into custody. Gloria follows them into the police car, demanding to know Robbie’s charges, but the deputy threatens to charge her as well.

At the courthouse, a Black custodian helps Gloria find Judge Morris’s courtroom, and she enters through the segregated door for Black people. Judge Morris sentences another man to prison before hearing Robbie’s case. Robbie barely speaks up to explain why he kicked Lyle McCormack. The judge acknowledges that Red beat Robbie in retribution, however. He asks Robbie about his parents, and although Robbie reveals that his father is in Chicago, he fails to remember the address. Although Gloria vouches for Robbie, the judge sentences him to half a year at the Gracetown School for Boys, also known as the Reformatory. Robbie bursts into tears as he is taken away. Gloria asks her godmother, Miss Lottie Mae Powell, to drive her to the Reformatory.

Robbie is chained outside the courthouse while waiting for transport to the Reformatory. A truck driven by Mr. David Loehmann arrives. He has the deputy remove Robbie’s handcuffs and then lets Robbie sit in the passenger’s seat of his truck. When the deputy finds out that Loehmann is from New York, he insinuates that the truck should have been painted bright red or pink. Loehmann reminds the deputy to provide official papers next time before he and Robbie leave.

During the drive, Loehmann explains that he moved to Gracetown to live closer to his dying mother. Robbie relates to him because of the loss of his own mother. When Loehmann learns that Robbie hasn’t eaten all day, he stops to give him a sandwich. Robbie argues that Lyle provoked him, which he failed to say to the judge. Loehmann promises to pass the information on but feels that it won’t do much to help Robbie because the McCormacks are involved. He reminds Robbie that he could have gotten worse than a six-month sentence.

Robbie asks if the stories about the Reformatory’s “haints”—ghosts that only children can perceive—are true. Though Loehmann expresses skepticism, Robbie recalls a friend whose brother, Luke, had been sentenced to the Reformatory. Luke claimed to have seen the haints, but he died one year later and was unceremoniously buried at the Reformatory.

Loehmann urges Robbie to behave during his sentence so that he can get an early release. He affirms that it is a prison despite its schoolhouse trappings. Robbie sees a peacock outside and asks if he can touch it. Loehmann reminds him that he is incarcerated. Robbie toughens himself up.

Gloria arrives at the Reformatory and marvels at the beauty of the campus. She suggests going inside to ask if Robbie has arrived, but Miz Lottie discourages it, considering their association with Gloria’s father. Unwilling to accept the futility of their visit, Gloria runs onto the road, where she sees two tractors bringing segregated trailers of boys to the work farms. Robbie is not among them.

A new truck arrives carrying Robbie. Gloria introduces herself to Loehmann, pleading to explain Robbie’s situation to the judge. Loehmann explains that he is only a social worker assigned to transport Robbie. He reassures Gloria that Robbie will still receive an education.

Loehmann recognizes Gloria, Robbie, and Miz Lottie through their relationship with Robert Stephens. He has heard the allegations surrounding Robert’s criminal charges and believes that Robbie’s incarceration will draw Robert back to Gracetown. However, Loehmann remains cautious because he wants to protect his family, who have been harassed for their mixed Black and Jewish heritage.

Gloria notes the unusual nature of Robbie’s trial and the judge’s failure to consider Lyle’s culpability. Loehmann apologizes for being unable to do much and offers to let Gloria contact him at the state children’s services. After Gloria reassures Robbie that she will find a way to release him, Miz Lottie advises Robbie not to show off his intelligence or talk about Robert. As they drive away, Loehmann tells Gloria to sign up for Sunday visiting hours.

When Robbie smells food being cooked, Loehmann suggests that he could work in the kitchen. Robbie later realizes that it isn’t cooking he smells but something burning.

Loehmann gives Robbie his business card. The school receptionist, Doris, leads Robbie to the office of Superintendent Fenton J. Haddock. Haddock offers Robbie candy before telling him that he is supposed to lash him per Red McCormack’s request. He asks Robbie to read a sign above the door, which contains a passage from Proverbs in the Bible: “He that spareth […] his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes” (60).

Haddock emphasizes that his job is to chasten Robbie until he becomes a better person. He outlines the various rules that Robbie must observe during his incarceration. Robbie is so scared that he soils his pants. Haddock makes Robbie strip so that he can change into his prison clothes and orders Robbie to bend over so that he can inspect his buttocks for contraband. When satisfied, Haddock gives Robbie his new clothes and promises to lash him eventually. On his way out, Robbie notices a framed family photograph. Haddock explains that it is a picture of his family and points to himself holding his baby sister.

Haddock summons a man named Boone to take Robbie to class. Leaving the office, Robbie realizes that Haddock’s baby sister is dead in the photo.

Boone is a Black dorm master who antagonizes Robbie. Robbie promises himself not to be afraid of anyone, only putting on an appearance of fear in front of the adults.

Walking to the segregated schoolhouse, Robert experiences a vision of boys burning in an enclosed room. Boone acknowledges that Robbie can see haints. They reach the classroom, where Robbie tries to focus on the lesson to forget about his vision. After Robbie participates in class, the teacher calls on another boy named Cleo. Cleo glares at Robbie, which reminds him of Miz Lottie’s advice.

After class, four boys, including Cleo, beat Robbie. Robbie wipes his blood on his father’s work shirt, and when Boone notices that his civilian clothes are soiled, he takes them to burn them. Boone threatens to send Robbie to a place called the Funhouse.

Gloria arrives late to her job as a cook and cleaner for Miss Anne Powell. When Gloria tells her about Robbie, she calms down. Gloria decides that she will visit the McCormacks after work.

Miss Anne tries to talk to Gloria about Robbie. Gloria is frustrated by Anne’s privilege but agrees that Robbie’s temper got him into trouble. She wrestles with her resentment toward her father and blames herself for walking near the McCormack camp in the first place.

Gloria endures racist remarks from Miss Anne’s family, the Powells. She reflects on how futile her life feels and calls Children’s Services to speak to Loehmann. Gloria leaves a message for him to call her back at the Powell residence. After she hangs up, Anne’s great-grandmother Old Lady Powell recalls the Reformatory, having heard Gloria mention it in her phone call. She mentions a 1920 fire that killed several boys at the school.

Miss Anne chastises Gloria for making a call to Tallahassee. In private, she asks Gloria to tell her everything about Robbie. Gloria weeps as she recounts past events. Anne asks how much it will take to bail him out, but when Gloria reminds her that Robbie has already been convicted, they think of alternative solutions. Gloria repeats her resolution to visit the McCormacks, but Anne recommends legal assistance through her friend Channing Holt instead.

Boone briefs Robbie on kitchen duty, where he works with the other Black boys, including Cleo. Robbie becomes acquainted with two of the boys, who call themselves Redbone and Blue. They teach him his kitchen tasks and share how they each ended up at the Reformatory. While washing, Robbie sees a white boy who has a butcher’s knife in his back. Redbone and Blue don’t see the boy, but they advise Robbie to tell the haint that he doesn’t exist. Robbie complies, and the boy disappears through a wall.

Redbone and Blue reassure Robbie about the haint. They eat dinner after everyone else is done. Over dinner, Robbie asks if Haddock always makes good on his threats. He shares Haddock’s promise to lash him. The other boys tell him about the Funhouse, a place where Haddock and the other dorm masters beat the prisoners. Robbie then asks how difficult it is to escape the Reformatory. They answer that it is usually difficult to evade the neighbors, who are likely to snitch on escapees. The escapees either end up at the Funhouse or Boot Hill, the prison graveyard. They stop talking when they notice that Cleo might have overheard them.

The boys hurry to clean up before curfew. Blue leaves early to listen to a radio show. Redbone and a boy named Troy offer to show Robbie something in the back. They bring him to the walk-in freezer, where Robbie sees the two boys playing with a man hanging from a meat hook. It turns out to be a frozen beef slab. Suddenly, the freezer door slams shut, and the three boys panic. Robbie first suspects that Cleo is outside before wondering if it could be Blue or the haint he saw in the kitchen. Robbie tries to address the haint, but the culprit is eventually revealed to be Blue. Blue promises to let them out if they promise not to hurt him. They agree but lunge at him anyway. Robbie regrets his carelessness.

Gloria tells Miz Lottie about Miss Anne’s offer to help. Miz Lottie encourages Gloria to write to American civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall and American author Zora Neale Hurston to raise awareness around Robbie’s case. Gloria asks Miz Lottie about the 1920 fire at the Reformatory. Miz Lottie connects the fire to the evils of racist violence that run through the history of Gracetown. She recalls her grandnephew June, who worked at the Reformatory as a janitor. On one occasion, June’s supervisor ordered him to shoot at runaway boys. Miz Lottie forced him to resign when she saw how much the prison was psychologically affecting him. The 1920 fire killed a group of white and Black boys who had been confined together as punishment. June speculated that the fire was set on purpose “[t]o show ’em who’s boss” (110).

Gloria goes to the McCormack estate later that night. She is surprised by Lyle’s dog, who recognizes her. Lyle sees Gloria then, and Gloria asks him to vouch for Robbie to his father. Lyle agrees as a favor to Gloria. Red is upset that Gloria has come over but hears her out anyway. When Lyle corroborates her account, Red resolves to call Warden Haddock to tell him that he no longer needs to lash Robbie. Gloria is grateful, but Red asks her in private if she is pregnant with Lyle’s child and, if so, offers to have her pregnancy aborted. Gloria denies that anything romantic is happening between her and Lyle.

On the way out, Lyle asks Gloria for a kiss to return his favor. Gloria relents but resists Lyle when he tries to progress further. Gloria pretends that she is engaged to get Lyle to back off.