Wille wakes up on the day he has decided to vote. His mother begs him not to, saying that if he does he won't return. But Willie feels that for the first time in his life, he can't roll over to appease the White man. Willie is especially encouraged to go against the grain from a moment during his time in the military. He had been sitting with all his fellow soldiers, integrated, and none of them said anything about Willie or the other Black soldiers sitting amongst them, despite the technicality that the train was supposed to be segregated. Only when a conductor boards the train and sees the integration, does a problem arise about it. He is furious and tells them to sit in their designated seating or they'd be arrested at the next stop. Though Willie wants to put up a fight, he chooses instead to move. Two of the other Black soldiers, however, have remained in their seats. At the next stop, no one arrested them, which encourages Willie to stand his ground next time. Before voting, Willie has to ask his boss, Jim, for an hour off so that he can vote. On the way to work, Willie encounters a notorious cop who asks him where he thinks he's going, obviously trying to detain Willie somehow, but instead Willie runs off, all the way to work. Though Jim feels similarly to Willie's mother, and tells him that he may not return to work at all, Jim grants Willie permission. He however fails to accompany him to the courthouse in solidarity, saying that if he did his business would go bankrupt. Just on the steps to the courthouse, a group of White men in a car stop him, telling him to get in the car and pointing their gun at him. One of the men, Rack, is known for cutting up Black men and women, and on the car ride there Rack tells Willie he's going to cut his penis off. Willie pretends to apologize, but at the last moment grabs a wrench to swing at Rack's head.