John is in the process of composing a letter to his brother, Tommy, who is in prison. On the night of his grandfather’s funeral, John’s great-great Aunt May tells the story of his great-great-great-grandmother Sybela’s life. She was born a slave in Maryland. When she was eighteen, her master’s son, Charlie Bell, discovered his father’s plans to sell her. In the night, he escaped with her and their two children. The next morning, Sybela missed the once-dreaded sound of the wake-up call. John imagines Sybela in that tiny cabin. She was free, yes, but still a mother. Still a wife to a white man who had forced her into his bed. He wants to ask Aunt May more about Sybela’s early days of freedom, but the older woman begins singing a hymn to honor the deceased. While he listens, he thinks of Sybela’s chains, only partially loosened, and the chains that bound Tommy’s limbs when he last saw him. He and his accomplice, Ruchell, were finally caught in Colorado, hundreds of miles away from home. Sybela was never captured, but she would’ve been punished with more than just shackles if she had been. John compares the two great escapes of his lineage. Could Tommy have left Pittsburgh and the trauma etched into his genes without committing those crimes? Aunt May starts up the story again, now talking about the time she saw Sybela as a child. There was an incredible power in her eyes. Her stare contained all grace, all hurt, and all love. Her soul ached for liberty. Then, Aunt May returns to Sybela’s first morning away from the plantation. As Charlie Bell slept beside her, she spotted a falling star outside the window. It’s said that all the slaves took that day off to marvel at that natural wonder. Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, Sybela Owens and Charlie Bell settled on Bruston Hill. They had eighteen more children, the descendants of whom populate the neighborhood now known as Homewood. Aunt May recounts seeing children around the area and knowing innately that they’re her blood. She feels Sybela’s celestial pulse in them. Years of oppression have left so many of Sybela’s children lost and hurting like Tommy. John informs Tommy of a prisoner’s lawsuit that’s been in the news recently. The man claims that the conditions of his imprisonment violate his human rights. John wonders if the court will side with him, which would give Tommy and so many others like him a chance at achieving Sybela’s freedom.