upon his first moments outside of prison, jake contacts his daughter, mary shuttlesworth (zelda harris), who is happy to see him. when jesus returns home from school, he refuses to look his father in the eye, and tells his sister to get rid of the "stranger" in their living room. jesus later agrees to meet with his father at an alternative location away from mary. throughout the movie, jake tries to persuade jesus to attend big state with seemingly no success. eventually, he divulges the deal set up by the governor. however, jesus appears to be unsympathetic to his father's situation.