Bud starts crying at the restaurant out of a sense of
relief and release. After all the years of hardship and sorrow since his mother died
four years earlier, he has finally reached his destination. Even though Herman E.
Calloway has not acknowledged him, and actually seems none too pleased that he is there,
Bud has a feeling that he has come to the place where he belongs. He
thinks,
"All
of a sudden I knew that of all the places in the world that I'd ever been in this was
the one. That of all the people I'd ever met these were the ones. This is where I was
supposed to be (Chapter
14).
Bud has traveled all the
way from Flint to Grand Rapids, Michigan to find the man he believes is his father. He
is only ten years old, and has come all that way alone; and because he has had to be
strong, he has stifled his emotions, and noticed that his "eyes don't cry no more." When
he meets Calloway's band, the friendliness and concern with which the members treat him
makes him feel that he can let down his guard, and the compassion of Miss Thomas, the
lead singer, no doubt reminds him of his own mother's tenderness. In addition, he has
been treated to a full meal at a restaurant for the first time in his life; his hunger
has been satisfied, and the experience fills him with an amazement which is
overwhelming. Even though nothing has been settled as to his future, Bud knows that, for
a few days at least, he is safe, and others will take care of him. The relief he feels
sets off a torrent of long-suppressed emotions, and without even realizing it, he begins
to cry, and is unable to stop.
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