Beloved Paul D
by Toni Morrison

Paul D was a slave with Sethe in Kentucky, but did not manage to escape with her. For 18 years or so, he endured a cycle of running away and being caught again, finally ending up in Cincinnati at Sethe's front door. Like Sethe, his past is too horrible to bear and so he stores it in the "tobacco tin" of his heart, leading a sort of half-life. While staying with Sethe, Paul D manages to confront his past in the form of Beloved, and also learns what it means to finally lay down his load and rest.