her and Son", the town is aware of Tom's "dirty little secret" and is a large force in the plot of the story. The secret does not seem to be talked about until Bert kills Colonel Tom. At that point, they discuss Cora and Tom's living situation: "Downstairs the voices went on. They were talking about [Cora]. '...lived together...ain't been a white woman here overnight since the wife died when I was a kid...bad business, though, livin' with a,' in drawling cracker tones, 'nigger'" (Hughes, "Father" 615). Tom is not spurred to action until the rest of the town is involved. Tom attempts to conceal his interest in Bert primarily when other white people are around. The first time he was moved to extreme violence against his son was when Bert mentioned their relationship in front of Tom's guests.
             He had always been a little ashamed of this particular beating he had given the boy....Bert, looking almost like a white child (a hell of a lot favoring the Colonel), had come running out to the stables one afternoon,
             ...