To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #7: Chapters 20-24 (perspective of Jem)

The courtroom was getting tiresome. But I had to keep my hope and faith that Tom Robinson was going to prevail and win the case. Dill and Scout just came back in from outside, and Reverend Sykes had saved their seats. Atticus was going through his closing statement. His closing statement was so powerful, I thought that the jury would've known who to vote for right then and there.

Just as he finished, Cal came walking down the aisle with something in her hand. It was envelope which she handed to Atticus. I was wondering what it was about, since she told the judge that it was irrelevant to the case. Then it hit me. We weren't supposed to be here, and now we would get scolded from three different people. Atticus looked up at the judge, and told him what I had predicted.

From below, Mr. Underwood called out giving away our position in the balcony. Atticus looked up toward us, and saw us. Trying not to draw attention, we stealthily walked down the steps to Atticus and Cal waiting for us at the bottom. Atticus told us what I had apprehended. We were to go home with Cal immediately for supper, but to then stay home. I pleaded to let us come back to here the verdict. Atticus relented and decided that if we had heard this much already, that we might as well hear the end of it.

I got my second scolding from Cal on our walk home. She kept repeating that we should be ashamed of ourselves, but that didn't stop my good mood from changing. I laughed and joked all the way to our house. I walked in and was followed by Dill and Scout. Cal served us potato salad and ham. Aunt Alexandra didn't each much though after she had heard where we were, she just rearranged the food on her plate. I was praying in my head that perhaps I wouldn't have to get my third scolding from her.

After an hour, the three of us walked back to the courtroom. It had not changed much, and Reverend Sykes had saved our seats. The few changes were the jury were no longer in their box, Judge Taylor was asleep, and the room had a certain stillness about it. Babies weren't crying and there weren't children running around. Reverend Sykes told me that most of the spectators had left and brought back food to eat in the court room.

The courthouse bell rang eight o'clock, and the jury still hadn't come to their verdict. I looked over at Scout who was fighting off sleep. Dill was already resting his head on my arm. I might've dozed off, but I can't remember. We all came to attention when the clock struck eleven. The jury came out to present their conclusion. I found it improbable for Tom Robinson to be guilty, and I couldn't wait for it to be proved.

But the inevitable happened. A paper was passed through three sets of hands before getting to the judge who read it. Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. I started to cry knowing that twelve people had done something that was completely wrong and not fair. Atticus packed his suit case and began to walk out. Everyone in the balcony rose in his honor. I followed suit to respect my father. I found it amazing that even though he had lost, that the Black Community still respected and honored him.

To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #6: Chapters 15-19 (perspective of Bob Ewell)

It was a long day in the court today. It was about 90 degrees, and the sun was coming down on us. Luckily, the witnesses sat in the shade, but I wasn't sorry for the Negroes who sat up on the balcony, the balcony that provided shade for us. I was only a little upset that Tom Robinson got to sit in the shade with the witnesses, and that he should be sitting in the baking sun, especially after what he had done to my Mayella.

I was second to the stand after Heck Tate. I had showered last night so that I wouldn't be too ashamed of being dirty, yet the the audience still looked at me like I was covered in filth. Horace Gilman was the first to interrogate me. I indulged myself in knowing that he was the prosecutor, and he was on my side.

He started off by asking who I was, and establish exactly who I was. I didn't know why he was doing this because we had talked before, but I guess it was for the jury to know. Then he asked what happened on exactly November the 21st. I told everyone my story of how I was hunting in the woods, an I heard my daughter screaming. I ran back to our house where I looked in the window and saw Mayella on the floor with a Negro choking her. I chased him off, but got tangled in our fence.

I stood up and shouted, "There he is right there!" pointing to the defendant, Tom Robinson. The courtroom was buzzing with noise, and Judge Taylor had to hammer his gavel for five minutes. After those five minutes of noise, the room was silenced. Horace started asking questions again, as if to reassure that I had said everything I had told in my story. Horace was done with his questions, so I ran off the stand to the witnesses bench. But first I ran into Atticus, the lawyer protecting Tom Robinson.

Atticus put me up on the stand again to cross-examine me. I didn't know why, I had already told the truth, but the Judge made me stay up there. Atticus started to ask me about Mayella's injuries. Heck had already answered Atticus once, but I had no choice except to answer them again. I told him of her right black eye, and bruises, but he interrupted me. He asked if I agreed with everything Heck said. I said yes, and Atticus seemed to change subject to my education. Horace objected saying that the subject was irrelevant, but Atticus told the Judge if he could continue, he would have good reason in a few minutes. Judge Taylor overruled the objection, and Atticus continued.

First he wanted to know if I could read and write. Of course I could, I had gone to school for three years. How could I not read and write. And besides that, I had to be able to sign my relief checks. Atticus then took an envelope and a pen from his jacket. He asked me to right my name so I did oblivious to what he was trying to prove. It was after I had written my name when it occurred to me why Atticus was doing this. Judge Taylor breathed that I was left handed under his breath, and I think they found me out.

Horace tried to save me by asking the biggest word in the world. He asked if I was ambidextrous. I didn't know what they meant, but I thought it was bad. I said that I was not, but I could use both hand equally. Anything that I could do with my left, I could do with my right. Judge Taylor released me to the witness bench, where I sat down amiably, knowing that they couldn't have found out anyways.

To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #5 Chapters 13-15 (perspective of Atticus)

I came home after a long exhausting day at work. My kids complacently came running out of the house to meet me. Jem even took what I was holding and carried it into the house. Scout jumped into my arms and asked if I got her a book. My answer was yes and I saw her face brighten. She also asked if I knew Alexandra was here. I knew that my sister was coming and it comforted me to know that she arrived safely. But Scout seemed a little disappointed. I asked Scout what was wrong, but she said that she was happy to have her Aunty to live with us for a while. But the sound of her voice and the look in her eye made me think she was lying. I told her that Alexandra would be a big help around here with the summer about to be hard to go through. She accepted it, and ran off into the house.

My sister fit in with Maycomb. Everyone in the town excepted her. Almost our entire neighborhood came by to talk to her or have coffee, and she became Secretary of the Maycomb Amanuensis Club. She was almost always preoccupied when I got home with either talking to a group of women sitting in our living room, to teaching my kids what it means to be a Finch.

One of the days, she was teaching Scout and Jem about how everybody and their family get a streak. Such as a gambling streak, drinking streak, or an attitude streak. I broke into the conversation saying that we were pretty much the first in the Finch family not to marry one of our own cousins. Then I asked if the Finch's had an incestuous streak. I thought it was true, but Alexandra, as always, denied it to make our family look better and stronger.

It was another long day at my office working on the Robinson case, when Alexandra stopped me as soon as I got in the door. Jem and Scout didn't come out running to me, which I was a little disappointed in. My sister wanted me to talk to Scout and Jem about how they should grow up as proper Finch's and behave accordingly. I got the usual "You're not raising your kids right and you need to do something about!" speech that our neighbors usually give me.

I walked into Jem's room where I found both Scout and Jem there. I tried to tell them what Alexandra had requested, but I just couldn't find the words for it. It was just too uncomfortable to tell them. I was fidgeting and stammering which I had never done before in front of my two kids. Most of the message came out in half-words, but in the end I told them to forget it. They looked shocked. Scout started to drag a comb against an edge of the dresser to make a terrible noise. Before I could stop, I shouted out at her to stop.

Scout buried her crying face into my vest which I hadn't had time to change out of. I didn't know what to do for a moment. Jem looked like he was about to cry to. I put my hand on Scout's head and reassured her that she didn't need to worry. I walked out of the room and almost slammed the door, but I caught myself. I closed the door gently and quietly.

I was enjoying my half hour of peace and quiet that my kids allotted me each day. I was thankful for this because I was constantly talking with people at the office. Scout came over and asked a curious question. She wanted to know what rape was. She was oblivious to many things, so I gave her a simple but true answer. She said if all it was was that, then why didn't Cal tell her on Sunday. This raised curiosity in me, so I began an interrogation of what happened on Sunday. The three of them went to Cal's church, First Purchase, and had heard that Tom Robinson was being charged for rape. She then got into a story of how Calpurnia said that Scout could go over to her house whenever was fine. Cal would even be willing to pick her up if necessary. I was about to say yes when Alexandra who had been sitting in the corner said no.

The two got into an argument that gave me a head ache. Scout said that she wasn't asking her, and only listened to me. I wasn't in acquiescence with Alexandra, but I had to take her side anyways. I told Scout that as long as Alexandra was living under our roof, that she had to take orders from her. Scout sulked off to the bathroom, the one door that had a lock on it inside the house.

Amiably Alexandra approached me. I wasn't sure what she wanted, but I guess I had to find out. She began to lecture me about Calpurnia. She said that Cal was a bad role model, and that we should fire her. I came back at her with Cal being part of the family, and that she wasn't going to leave until she wanted to. I needed Calpurnia to help me out. She had been around for the last seven years, and I still needed her, regardless of Alexandra being here or not. I returned back to the paper to forget about my sister.

Five minutes later I heard a commotion in Jem's room. I thought to myself that they must be fighting again which had become more common between the two of them. I busted into the room to see Scout tackling and fighting with Jem on his bed. I forced the two apart and ordered them to bed instantly. Scout went to her room, and I left.

It was about ten minutes later when I acquired the knowledge that Dill was here. He had hid under Scout's bed for the last two hours. I went to Scout's room to find him there eating the left over cornbread from our dinner. He seemed shocked and scared to see me. But Scout prodded him along with the answers to my questions. When I was done with the interrogation, I told Scout to get him more than just a pan of cornbread to eat, and I told Dill to get a shower. He was filthy and looked as if he was rolling in the dirt all day.

I phoned Ms. Rachel to tell her that her nephew was here. She came over to scold him, then give him a big hug and greeting. Apparently he had run away and his parents were looking for him. She left and said that it was fine that he could stay the night. The two went off the bed, and I followed suit.

To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #4: Chapters 10-12 (perspective of Reverand Sykes)

There was a nice surprise at my church on Sunday. Calpurnia brought Mr. Finch's kids with her. I know that Mr. Finch was on our brother Tom Robinson's case, so I quickly figured out why his kids were here. As I was walking down a pathway to the sanctuary, I saw them. But it irked me to see that Lula was giving them a hard time. Lula was a type of person that only wanted to be around colored people, and disagreed with anything that had to do with whites. But I can't ask her to leave, she is still a sister under god with us.

At first they were just jawing with each other. I knew that Lula would be upset with Mr. Finch's kids here. But it looked like Cal could handle it. Or at least I hope she could. Talking with Lula in the morning before a sermon wasn't my favorite thing to do, especially before we are about to worship god. Lula stopped in her tracks, then turned around and walked away. Calpurnia's son Zeebo emerged from the crowd gathered around them, and it appeared that he was giving them a proper welcome.

I continued down the path to the sanctuary. Everyone was preoccupied with talking with each other just like any other Sunday. I stood behind the pulpit silently for everyone to quiet down. I was looking around at our limited ecclesiastical items, when I noticed Calpurnia and our two guest in the first pew. Cal was talking with them, and pulled a couple coins out of her purse to hand to the kids. They talked back to her, but I couldn't here it. She quieted them down and pointed up to me. Shortly after, everyone quieted.

I started the sermon with a few community announcements. One of them was about Tom Robinson. I told the congregation that he had been loyal to First Purchase since he was a small boy. Everyone knew Tom Robinson and his current situation. I was saying that our morning collection for the past three weeks were going to his wife Helen, to support her and her kids. I thought I might have seen Mr. Finch's youngest start talking to Cal, but she was immediately quieted. I then opened it up to our opening hymn.

Zeebo walked down the aisles to the front with our only hymn book. It was a large old book, but it still served its purpose. Zeebo started us off with hymn 273. He read a line, and the congregation followed. This was the only way we could sing, for he was one of four people in the church that could read. When we got to the chorus, he closed the book because everyone knew the words. He opened the book and started again, with the congregation in sync behind him.

When the hymn finished, I called upon the holy lord to help the sick and the wounded, and led us in some prayers. I warned the men to watch out for women who might cheat them, and I warned Constance Jackson that she was in peril for arguing with her neighbor.

I finished the prayers, and called for the offering. Individually the congregation came up to the pulpit to drop in their change. It was mainly nickels and dimes, but I knew that we had to support Helen and her kids. Even Mr. Finch's children came up to drop a dime in. When the offering was complete, I counted the change, but it was not enough. I told the usher to shut the doors, and nobody was to leave until we came up with ten dollars. I slowly extracted the money from the congregation. By that time, it was hot, stuffy, and sweaty in the sanctuary. People were waving the makeshift fans to cool themselves off.

The ten dollars came after I pointed out a few members who I had not seen come up here yet. The doors were opened, and the warm air outside came in. Everyone sighed a deep breath that it was now over. I had Zeebo come up and give us a closing hymn. We finished the morning with On Jordan's Stormy Banks.

Mr. Finch's two kids came up to me afterwards. They were full of questions about the Robinsons. Especially the daughter. I tried to give them pensive answers, but they kept asking questions. Calpurnia came to my rescue when she put a hand on each of there shoulders, and they immediately stopped asking questions. They each politely said thank you for letting them come to church, and left.

I cleaned up the papers on the floor, locked up, and left for the Robinsons house to give them the morning offering. I felt happy that I was doing them a favor, and the lord one.

To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #3: Chapters 8-9 (perspective of Jem)

Today was one of the coldest days of my life. I had never experienced snow, but I had seen it before in picture shows. But it was my sister's first time to get acquainted with it. I was getting up in the morning when I heard Scout yelling for Atticus, and that the world was ending. Startled, I looked out my window, and there was snow on the ground, and a falling. I guess for someone who had never seen snow before would've thought the world was coming to an end.

I was feeling bad, because Mr. Avery said that bad weather was a result from kids' misbehavior, not listening to their parents, smoking cigarettes, or fighting each other. But my mood changed when school was canceled due to the now on the ground. Then I thought that maybe it wasn't so bad if we did all those things because we wouldn't have school.

Mrs. Radley died this winter. We were curious as to how she died, so Scout asked Atticus about it after we had debated who should ask. He had been there earlier in the day, and Scout wanted to know if he had seen Boo. He replied that no he did not, and Mrs. Radley had died a natural death, much to our disappointment.

With all the snow on the ground, I decided to make a snow man. I told Scout to stop walking all over it and that she was wasting it. We went over to Ms. Maudie's yard, where she was inspecting her flowers. We asked for all the snow in her yard, and she agreed to it, but moments afterward questioned me what I was going to do with it. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I told her that she would see.

I started by getting all the snow from the backyard to the front yard, along with five basket fulls of dirt. I started building with the dirt, when Scout interrupted that it didn't look like a snowman. I reassured her that my ingenuous plan would work out, and that she would see it in the end. We finished with the part and put the snow on it. I decorated the face with bits of wood, and looking at my art, I realized it looked like Mr. Avery. I was so excited, I called Atticus to tell him that we had a surprise when he got home.

When Atticus got home, he admired our artwork. But he didn't like the fact that it looked like Mr. Avery. Thinking quick, I ran across the street to the house adjacent house from us. I returned with Ms. Maudie's straw hat, and hedge clippers. The hat I placed on the snowman's head, and I arranged the clippers so that they appeared for her to be holding them. Ms. Maudie came out of her house, and yelled at me to give her back her hat and hedge clippers. But Atticus just grinned and walked over to her, and settled things.

Atticus woke in the middle of the night. I'm not sure what time it was, but I think it was around one o' clock. But I did know that it was cold. We walked to Scout's room to get her up. I still didn't know what was going on, but I thought I smelled smoke. It was hard to tell with the smell of snow everywhere. We walked outside to see Ms. Maudie's house ablaze. I was perplexed by the oranges, reds, and yellows coming from the flames. Atticus walked us to the lamp post nest to the Radley house, and told us to stay there. We watched helplessly from the sidewalk at her house going down in flames, and the men pulling out her furniture. The Maycomb county fire engine was coming, but I wondered why it was so slow. I learned in the next minute that men were pushing it down the streets. When they hooked it up to the fire hydrant, the hose exploded, and ice crystals went everywhere. Another fire truck came from Abbotsbville, and Scout dug her head into my clothing for warmth.

The fire started to lick our house, and I was going to run over to get stuff out, when I noticed Atticus was relaxed, and didn't look worried. Scout had the same idea as me, but I reassured her when Atticus wasn't panicking. The fire finally died down, and we went back to our house. Nothing was destroyed, but it smelled of smoke. Atticus offered some hot chocolate to take our mind off of what had happened. As we sat drinking our cocoa, we spotted a blanket lying on the floor. Scout had been wearing it, but it wasn't ours. We decided that Boo Radley must have dropped it on her shoulders while we were watching the flames. That might have frightened Scout, but it helped me think that Boo Radley wasn't after children after all.

To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #2: Chapters 4-7 (perspective of Dill)

I finally got out of school today in late June. This was exciting for me because in the summer I get to spend with my Aunt Rachel, and I don't have to outlast the tormenting of the teachers But these aren't the only reason why I want to go to Maycomb County; my friends Jem and Scout live there. I'm hoping that they will still remember me and play with me, and this summer maybe I will be able to get a closer look at the Radley house. Now that I'm older, I'm not scared of the tyranny that is said to live in the house.

A day after getting out of school, I got on my train to Maycomb County. On the way there, I thought of a couple possible lies to impress Jem and Scout. My first thoughts were of the train. I could say that I helped with the railroad, and even saw my father working on it, with his black pointed beard! I sure hope they buy this.

Somehow they didn't believe me. If someone told this to me, I would believe it. But that's okay because Jem, Scout, and I are still on good terms. We played in an old tire. Jem said we shouldn't because he couldn't get in it, but Scout still raced to the back of their house, and came back with it. I argued that I should go first because I was the guest, but of course Jem sided with his sister, so Scout went first. She also ended up going last because Jem pushed her so hard; they ended up in the Radley's front yard. Jem was trying to gather his sister up, but she was just lying there, not moving. Finally she got up with the help of Jem, retrieved the tire, and bolted back to where I was standing, to continue their shouting match. But we were saved when Jem and Scout's house maid yelled lemonade time. Unanimously, we all walked into the house.

During our lemonade break, we talked about what we were going to play. It was Jem who thought up playing the parts of Radley. He was assigning Scout to play the part of Mrs. Radley, when Scout tried to protest that it was dangerous for us to play this game. I teased her and told her that Jem and I could play and she could just watch. At that, she agreed to play, to prove she wasn't afraid of Boo Radley. Scout was Mrs. Radley who had to sweep the porch, I was old Mr. Radley who walked up and down the sidewalk, and Jem was Boo Radley who hid under the steps and occasionally screamed or howled.

As the summer went on, we played more, and the game got more complex. I was always being complimented for being able to play any role that was assigned to me, which made me feel pretty proud. We finally got to the point where Jem fake stabs scissors into my leg. Scout told me it looked pretty convincing and real, but I knew it wasn't. As I turned around, I noticed that Jem's dad was standing there, slapping a magazine against his knee. He interrogated us about what we were playing, and Jem answered all the questions, trying to keep what we were doing a secret. But I think that their father found out because he noticed the scissors Jem were holding. He took them away and walked inside the house. Scout was wimping out again, so Jem threatened that she could just go and play with other girls like the one she was becoming. But I think there was more that she knew that I didn't.

I spent almost the rest of the summer with Jem. Scout had beat up twice already after I had ignored her, so it was only us two who hung out together. We mainly spent our time up in the tree house, planning a way to contact Boo Radley. It was my idea to drop a note on his window sill with a fishing pole. On the morning we were putting our plan into action, Scout came up to the tree house. Jem sent her away with a malignant attitude, but she fought back by saying the yard was just as much hers than Jem's. I told her if she wanted to be here and in on our plan, then she had to do what we told her to. She finally agreed to it out of curiosity. Jem told her our plan, and her face went pale. I could see on her face that she was scared of this plan of action. She was questioning every part of it such as where we were going to put the note, and what happened if someone sees us. I held up their mother's silver bell, and told her if anyone comes, I'll ring it. We then told her how we had been scouting out the area around to house, and found a loose shutter that we would be able to put the note onto. Jem got the pole and put the note on it. Scout and I walked to our lookout positions on the opposite sidewalks. It seemed like forever for Jem to get that note up there, and I could here him complaining with by back turned that it wouldn't get off the pole. The foreverness that I was imagining ended when I saw their father, Atticus, walking up the sidewalk to us. In a panic, I rang the bell and turned around to face Jem and Scout. I was still ringing it when I turned around face to face with Atticus. He told me to stop ringing the bell, and I did immediately as I came back to my senses. But the following silence, I wished I had kept ringing it. Atticus gave us all a scolding, and told us to stop bothering Boo Radley. But Jem said that we weren't bothering him, we were just trying to communicate with him, but Jem didn't get that far. His father had finally realized what we were doing when were playing, but described it as putting his life's story on display for the neighborhood. Atticus stormed away to the house, and Jem yelled after him, that must of been an inside joke because I didn't understand it.

Tonight was my last night here in Maycomb. I was trying to construct a cigarette when Jem and Scout pop over the fence into my aunt's yard. We were just talking and enjoying our last few minutes with each other, when I suggested we go for a "walk". Jem new what I meant, but his sister caught onto it. She said that nobody in Maycomb just went for a "walk". Jem suggested that she go home if she didn't want to walk with us down to the light pole and back. But she tagged along anyway.

We crawled underneath the fence which Jem had a hard time getting under. I wondered if it would also be a challenge for him to get out too. Our next obstacle was a rusty old fence that squeaked. We each spat on it until there was no saliva left in our mouths, but when we opened it, it was silent. Jem and Scout lifted me up so that I could see into the window. I didn't see anything except a light off in the distance, which I reported back to them. Then it was Jem's turn to check in the back window. The first porch step squeaked, but it held his weight. He was telling us he didn't see anything, when I noticed Scout's head jerk to the right. I glanced to the right to see what she was looking at. At first I didn't see it, but then I noticed a shadow creeping toward us. When it fell over Jem, he looked up, and dashed to us. But the shadow was leaving. He continued running us through the gate. Scout tripped in collards patch, and a boom sounded through the neighborhood. A shotgun boom. Jem and I dived down next to Scout, and then we pulled ourselves back up to get out. Scout and I made it under the fence fine, but turned around when we didn't hear Jem behind us.

We raced back to the fence where Jem was, while trying to evade any other possible attacks. Jem was stuck under the fence, and tore his pants off to get under. We all ran to the school yard, and the long way around. We then realized the entire neighborhood would be at the Radley's house, and it would be suspicious if we weren't there.

As we got around the block, we saw the enormous crowd at the Radley house. We slowed our breathing and walked the rest of the way there. We slipped in, and Jem tried asking Atticus what happened to make it look natural. Atticus told him what we had just endured, while Jem managed a surprised look on his face. Mr. Nathan Radley then threatened to all of us there, that the next person to go onto his property would get shot with his other shotgun.

It was after that, when Atticus realized Jem's pants were missing. I thought up a quick lie, and told him we were playing strip poker, in my aunt's backyard. That's also why we weren't there immediately. I could see the admiration on Scout's face of how I could lie. Atticus let us go, and had Jem get his pants from my aunt's house, but we all knew they weren't there. We went our separate ways back home, and told them to write to me during the school year. Man that was one of the best summers ever!

To Kill a Mockingbird Journal #1: Chapters 1-3 (perspective of Jem)

Today a tiny kid came over to our house. He was the nephew of our neighbor, Miss Stephanie Crawford. He told us that he would be staying here every summer. I asked him his name, and it was extremely long for a person his size. Charles Baker Harris. But he had a nick name of Dill, and I think that fit him better. He was 7 years old going on 8, and was bragging about being able to read. My sister Scout showed him though. She's 6 years old and going into first grade, and she can already read.

Dill played with us for as long as he stayed there. Scout was relieved of the embarrassing roles in their reenactments of Tarzan, The Rover Boys, and Tom Swift. We amazed him with legends of the Radley House, and there was a malevolent phantom inside who never came except at night. We saw his awe in the house when he stood at the closest street light, hanging onto it with all his strength, but gazing at the house. One day, Dill dared me to run up and knock on the door of the Radley and run away. I always keep my honor on dares, but this one scared me. I told Dill that if he wanted me to do that, then Boo Radley would come out of his house and kill the three of us. After a couple of days of my stalling, Dill and I finally compromised that I would only have to touch the Radley house. I ran up to the house, Scout and Dill following me, and put my entire hand on the house. Not waiting for any response from the house, I ran away faster that I had ever done before, Scout and Dill hot on my heels.

I took Scout to her first day of school today. Dill had just left last week, and I was already beginning to miss him. Scout sure did seem happy about going to school. I had never seen her more ecstatic. When we got to school, I had to break some news to her that I was deciding on the way there whether or not tell her. I told her that at recess we couldn't play together, but I didn't tell her because it would have been embarrassing me in front of my friends. She was a little upset upon hearing this, but I reassured here that we still play together at home. So we parted in our different directions toward class.

At morning break, I made my way over to where Scout was playing. When she saw me, her face brightened and a smile came onto her face. But when I asked how things were going, her smile disappeared. This irked me, so asked what was wrong. She told me of her morning, and of her teacher, Miss Caroline, had told her to stop reading and writing at home. I had heard about Miss Caroline, and that she had learned a new way to teach from going to college. She wasn't indigenous to Maycomb, and didn't understand our culture. The bell rang and we went to class.

At lunch, I found Scout rubbing a boy smaller than her into the dirt in the yard. I told her to stop because it wasn't fair that she was bigger. But she replied that he was almost as old as me. The boy was Walter Cunningham. Apparently Scout had gotten in trouble from Miss Caroline when Walter didn't have a lunch, and Scout tried to explain it that he was a Cunningham. The Cunninghams were farmers, and were greatly affected by the Dust Bowl, and the Stock Market Crash. They didn't have any money, and at most times, no food. But still they persevered through the rough times. I remember when Atticus helped out Mr. Cunningham with legal stuff, that he wasn't able to pay us with money, but instead with food and firewood during the winter. My father said that what he gave us was more that enough, but we were grateful because we didn't have much either. When finding out who the boy Scout was beating up, I offered him over to our house for dinner.

Walter and my father got right into talking like business men about farming. Calpurina, our maid, supplied Walter with almost all the food he could eat. When he asked for maple syrup, Cal handed it over, and Walter's food was swimming in syrup. Scout had an outburst about Walter eating all of our food, and Cal dragged her out into the kitchen to scold her. I'm not sure what Cal told her, but the next minute, Scout came back, got her food, and exited toward the kitchen. We finished lunch and went back to school.