In May 1936, newly arrived Jewish refugee brothers Hirshel Koffler and Yigel Koffler work as brakemen on the Pennsylvania Railroad freight train nicknamed the Tanker Toad, running coal between Berwyn and Pennhurst. On Memorial Day weekend, they find themselves following strict instructions from their union boss, Uri Guzinski: take “the Negroes” on the train, drop them in Berwyn, and hand them to Pullman porters. They silently watch a tall Black man (Nate Love) sit in their boxcar cradling a weeping child (Dodo) as the freight rolls away from Pennhurst.

At the Berwyn yard, two impeccably dressed Pullman porters meet them, discreetly transfer Nate and Dodo to a passenger terminal, and rush them onto a Philadelphia-bound train. Hirshel and Yigel open an envelope left for them and find forty dollars and a note promising “free new shoes,” signed by M. Skrup at a Pottstown address.

The narration traces how the money and logistics were quietly assembled through a chain of Chicken Hill allies and contacts: Marv Skrupskelis (via his twin Irv at a shul meeting) connects to Moshe’s cousin Isaac, who routes funds through Bernice, Fatty, Addie, Nate, and Paper; Paper then reaches Pullman porter friends, who coordinate with Uri. This network moves Nate and Dodo from Berwyn to Philadelphia, then onto a southbound express in a first-class sleeper headed to Charleston, South Carolina—Nate’s home.

Nate believes he will never see Addie again and thinks he is the last Love, but the future proves otherwise. Dodo, heavily drugged and traumatized, gradually forgets the details of his escape and Pennsylvania, yet he cannot erase the memory of Chona—her marbles, her warmth—and the steadfast friendship signaled by a “one solitary white finger” held out to him in the dark.

In South Carolina’s Low Country, Dodo becomes a farmer, husband, father, and churchgoer, living a full life as Nate Love II. With support money (including help from Isaac, a Jewish theater owner), a farm is purchased, and years later Isaac, Moshe, and others help found Camp Chona for disabled children. Nate Love II dies on June 22, 1972—the day Hurricane Agnes devastates Pottstown and the day after Malachi the Magician disappears—murmuring four final words to the absent friend waiting beyond: “Thank you, Monkey Pants.”