The Sweetness of Water

The chapter opens just before the conclusion of Chapter 11. Caleb and August have sex by the pond, and Caleb remembers their encounter in the same spot a year prior. August hears somebody nearby, and he tells Caleb to quickly dress. Once the men are dressed, they take off chasing the intruder through the woods.

Caleb reflects on his time working his father’s field. While they shared fun times and engaged in childish antics to rouse a laugh, farm life was not for Caleb. Caleb seeks his relationship with August because he doesn’t have anything like it at home. When he calls on August, August’s mother coldly dismisses him. The coldness of Old Ox was the same, being shunned by local businesses after realizing that August’s father had spread stories about Caleb’s cowardice.

One afternoon, Caleb pays August a visit at work to avoid Mrs. Webler. A clerk tells Caleb that August is in a meeting. Ignoring the clerk, Caleb dashes to the stairs and climbs to the second floor of the building. When he knocks on the door and enters one of the offices he sees Mr. Webler, August, and Brigadier General Glass. August’s father chastises him for not taking orders from his secretary at the desk, who has a wooden leg.