Golden Gate Park is where Jenny meets Mike Sorsa during a period when she and Pauline can no longer depend indefinitely on Tom Milner and Sandy for support. In the open space of the park, a private reunion brings Jenny money and a working truck—help that can keep her afloat as the grocery-store money runs out.

The Meeting

One afternoon, after asking Tom Milner to contact Mike Sorsa for her, Jenny takes a bus to Golden Gate Park. Her hat and glasses do not disguise her: Mike recognizes her immediately, strides across the grass, and embraces her without speaking. The reunion is both affectionate and urgent, a rare moment of direct connection amid Jenny’s precarious circumstances.

A Point of Material Support

They talk in the park for as long as Jenny feels comfortable. Mike presses a doubled-up envelope into her hand; it contains five hundred dollars in twenties and fifties. The money answers an immediate shortage: Jenny and Pauline have spent the grocery-store money and cannot rely on their existing helpers forever.

Mike then offers to drive Jenny home in his truck. The sight of the vehicle makes her laugh and cry as she hugs him again. Tom had said it still ran, but Jenny had not believed it. Mike presents the truck as something that can keep her afloat and links his ability to help to the success of the brothers’ business, which he jokes may owe something to its pretty orange sign.

Narrative Significance

The park is not described as a permanent refuge or hideout; it is a temporary meeting place where Jenny can receive help and decide how long she is comfortable staying. Its public openness contrasts with the concealment required elsewhere in her life: even in a hat and glasses, she is recognized at once. The scene makes Golden Gate Park a threshold between isolation and renewed support, with the embrace, cash, and truck converting reunion into practical assistance.