PART TWO - THE DESERT

SECTION NINE (Pages 39-41)

Summary

This section begins with Jeannette's assertion that she never believed in Santa Claus, because Mom and Dad refused to allow it. As a result, they celebrate Christmas the week after the actual day, so they can use discarded wrapping paper and ribbon. This year, Dad had lost his job, so there is no money for gifts. So that night, he takes the kids outside, wrapped in blankets, and they are told to pick out a star that they can have for keeps. It is their Christmas present. Jeannette picks Venus, which glows brighter than the other stars, and Dad gives in and says she can have a planet instead of a star. Over Christmas dinner, they discuss outer space, and Dad explains what he knows about the stars and the planet they chose. He tells them also how lucky they are to get the stars instead of cheap plastic toys, Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten, you'll still have your stars.

Notes

Once again, Dad finds a unique way to substitute for his inability to financially provide for his children. He gives them stars, which is ironic, given that that phrase implies the best and yet his idea of a gift doesn't fit the phrase.

SECTION TEN (Pages 42-47)

Summary

The family has moved to Blythe, and Dad and Mom get into an argument over how long she's been pregnant. She claims that she always carries children longer than most women. In fact, she believes that she carried Lori for fourteen months. Dad says she's crazy and that she would be an elephant if that were so. Mom claims that's why her kids are so smart - they are postmature rather than premature. The argument grows so severe that Mom eventually runs away from the car. This causes Dad to chase her with the car, calling her vicious names as she name-calls back again. He actually tries to run her down with the car and then corners her against some rocks. He drags her back to the car and throws her in. Everyone sits quietly after all this, except Mom who sobs that she did carry Lori for fourteen months.

Mom and Dad make up the next day, and she even takes the time to cut his hair. However, neither one of them likes Blythe. They think it is too civilized, and Jeannette isn't happy about having to go to school. Nonetheless, she becomes the teacher pet who raises her hand at every question. A few days after she starts school, she is jumped and beaten by some Mexican girls who don't like her intelligence and pale white complexion. Dad seems unconcerned, hoping only that she stood up for herself. The next day, the girls are waiting for her again, and she knows she will have to fight. Fortunately, Brian jumps out of the bushes waving a yucca branch. They eventually surround him and begin beating him up while Jeannette hits one of the girls with a rock. It's enough to make the fight end, and Brian leads Jeannette through a chain link fence that surrounds a lettuce farm. They gorge themselves on the lettuce and then have a lettuce fight. They run for home while a crop duster drops a fine dust on their heads.

Two months after they move to Blythe, Mom gives birth when she believes she is twelve months pregnant. A few days after the baby is born, Dad takes the kids in the car to pick up Mom and the baby. They leave the hospital Rex Walls-style: walk out and don't pay. Jeannette is declared old enough at six to hold the baby all the way home. It's a little girl, but she goes without a name for weeks. Eventually, Mom decides to call her Lily Ruth Maureen after Mom and Dad's mothers' names. However, they will call her Maureen, a diminutive of Mary, Mom's own name.

Notes

This section is a commentary on violence. Jeannette is beaten for being too white and too smart. Dad beats Mom for being too insistent that she carries her babies longer than most people. In both cases, the violence is totally unnecessary, just gratuitous violence without meaning or impact. It contrasts then with the miracle of Maureen's birth.