The boy feels conflicted about whether he should run away or not, and guilty about stealing the purse.
Roger is definitely surprised when he tries to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’s purse and she clocks him instead, taking him home. She tells him that if he makes contact with her, that contact is going to last awhile.
Most people do not react to a purse-snatching by kidnapping their assailant. Mrs. Jones is definitely a unique woman. Once Roger gets to her house, he has to decide if he is going to stay or run away. She asks him his name.
“Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” said the woman, whereupon she turned him loose—at last. Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the door—and went to the sink.
Roger made the choice to stay and wash his face instead of running away. He was making the first step away from a life of crime. Mrs. Jones takes an interest in him. She asks him about his home life, and what he wanted the money for. Roger is surprised that she cares. He is out snatching purses at 11 at night, so he is probably not used to people taking an interest in him.
You thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t going to say that.” Pause. Silence. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God, if he didn’t already know.
Roger’s internal conflict over whether to stay or go gets settled when she is nice to him. He does not flee when she asks him to wash up, and he even offers to go to the store and buy her something. He seems to have decided that she really does care about him, even though they only just met.
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