SUMMARY:
In these pages, Jeannette recieves her first kiss (techincally, it wasn't a kiss according to her), which was considered a rape by her house-mate Billy Deel. This Billy Deel guy, the arrives to the Railroad Depot with a BB Gun, shooting out some of the Wall's family windows with the kids inside. Without hestitation, Jeannette grabbed her dad's pistol, and shot at Billy. Neighbors herd the shootout, and called police to investigate. The Wall's had to go to court, but Rex, the father, didn't aggree to this. This marked the end of their stay in the Tracks, now that the police were on to them. Each member of the family only had to bring one item with them, and out of a bag of choice rocks Jeannette picked from the desert, she only picked one, her favorite, a geode with it's insides coated with white crystals.
Now that the family had no where to go, their only choices were to move into their grandmothers, house. Their grandmother deceased recently, and just as Jeannette was getting excited about her memories with her grandmother, she is informed that she had died and that they were moving into one of her homes in Phoenix, which now belonged to Jeannette's mother. This home marked a new beggining to the Wall's family, a second chance. But sadly, they missed their chance, with their father loosing his job, and his rising alcoholic problem. Alot of their neighbors on North Third Street, their new home's address, were 'kind of weird'. Perverts and Gypsies roamed the streets and gave the Walls family some problems, but that wasn't too high of a mountain to climb (not to mention the home also had termites and roaches): a few Gypsie tricks, a newspaper, bug-spray, 10 shoes, and some Pervert Hunting got rid of these guys. But their new home gave them some time to have fun and live 'normal lives', Rose Mary, Jeannette's mother, spent alot of time painting in this home more than ever, and the kids were doing great in school. The family was the 'black sheep' of the community, but they didn't mind it, especially when their father Rex went into a cheetah's cage on a visit to animal prison/the zoo. Since Rex lost his job, the family had no stable money source anymore, so they tried shoplifting, which didn't go so well (they didn't got caught, but they ended up having to pay money for what they were going to steal). More importantly though: Christmas. Mary Rose promised that this years Christmas was going to be the best, and that they were actually celebrate it on Christmas Day instead of 1 week later, so they bought a bunch of gifts, and a slightly dry Douglas fir tree for a buck. But, their fates took a turn for the worst again, where their drunken father, after being kicked/'escorted' out of church, burned the tree, along with the presents. After, we discover that Jeannette has turned 10 in the spring. Her father asked her what she would want more than anything in the world, and she answered, "Do you think you could maybe stop drinking?" (Walls 116). This hurt Rex, so he stopped drinking, went through a sort of 'withdrawl', and became sober. Only to get back into drinkin again. Since Rex;s drinking problem came back into the light, Rose mary decided that they should move to West Virginia, where Rex's parents were. They rented a car (since their previous one was left abandoned on the way to the Grand Canyon), and left their house in Phoenix, to venture to West Virginia. At first, Rex hestiated at the idea, but with a "You're the head of the family! You're the dad! Come on!" and "We need you!" chant from the family awating in their rented 1956 Oldsmoblie, he was on his way with his family, starting yet another journey.
QUOTE:
Sorry, I had to pick more than one! =P
1)When we told Mom and Dad about our reading groups, we paused before the word "gifted", clasping our hands beneath our chins, fluttering our eyelids, and pretending to look angelic. "Don't make a mockery of it," Dad said. "'Course you're special. Haven't I always told you that?" Brian gave Dad a sideways look. "If we're so special," he said slowly, "why don;t you..." His words petered out. "What?" Dad asked. "What?" Brian shook his head. "Nothing," he said (Walls 95).
2)Don't worry, God understands," Mom said. "He knows that your father is a cross we must bear." (Walls 105).
REACTION:
On the first quote, this is just like my last quote where Brian sort of 'undermines' his father under his breath, but he doesn't want to break his spirit, yet. With the second quote, I wanted to include this because it's kinda funny know Rex is referred to a cross, where Rex is an athiest. I don't know, it was a weird comparison.
But, on the novel's plot itself, I actually though this was going to be it with running around for the Walls family (even though it wasn't even in the middle of the book yet). I had a feeling their Grandmother's home in Phoenix was their oppertunity to shine, and it was, but it didn't last/shine as long as I thought it would. Also, I'm noticing a pattern with what the family goes through: It's (almost) always because of the father, that the family has to move around! I mean, he loses his jobs, gets drunk all the time, a Dad like that is not gonna run a stable family! But the story goes in circles and repeats itself: When all is going well, something goes wrong and the family has to relocate and start a new beginning/'adventure', as the family calls their moving around. But it's all because of the father, I think. The events repeat! And now that I'm on part 3 of the novel (titled 'Welch'), I can't wait to read what happens to the family in West Virginia! (That is, if they ever get there.)
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