Chapter 10

Turtle receives a letter from her mother, who is as scatter-brained and unrealistic as ever. She is tired by the constant demands of Mrs. Budnick, the old lady for whom she works, but her only solution is to become a movie actress, with her name in lights. As Turtle reads, a filthy old man comes down the street with a horse-drawn wagon full of trash. Beans says that this man is Killie the Horse, so named because he once whipped a horse to death. The boys jump onto the back of his wagon, sending him sprawling into the dust. They are pleased with this result, but Turtle is unimpressed, sarcastically suggesting that they should now try drowning some kittens.

At this point, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Minnie’s husband, returns to the house. He has been working far from home for weeks at a time, and Turtle has never seen him before. He is quiet and undemonstrative, but the boys are delighted to see their father, and Turtle finds that she likes him. That evening, when Aunt Minnie and the boys are out of the house, Uncle Vernon and Turtle mend clothes and listen to the radio together, and he asks after her mother and talks to her about the family.

Chapter 11

Aunt Minnie asks the children to go to Nana Philly’s house to give her lunch. They object, because they have tickets to see a Shirley Temple film, but Turtle hates Shirley Temple and volunteers to go. She is curious to see her grandmother again, but Nana Philly shows no sign of being pleased to see her. She makes milk toast for Nana Philly’s lunch, but Philly knocks the bowl off the table and onto the floor. She does the same with the second bowl Turtle gives her, so Turtle sits and eats her own lunch in front of the old lady and then leaves.

The second day Turtle goes to give Nana Philly her lunch, Miss Bea has already made grits and grunts and gravy, with a guava duff to follow. Again, Nana Philly sweeps her lunch off the table, but when it comes to the guava duff, Turtle is too quick for her. She snatches the bowl away as the old lady raises her hand and eats the pudding herself. The following day, when she places a bowl of conch chowder in front of Nana Philly, the old lady eats it all. Turtle tells Nana Philly that the first time she came to give her lunch, she missed a Shirley Temple movie. She explains that this was fine, since she hates Shirley Temple. Her grandmother gives a crooked smile and replies, “Me thoo.”

Chapter 12

Aunt Minnie complains to Turtle that Smokey has made a mess in her laundry basket and tells her that she will get rid of the cat if anything like this happens again. Turtle protests that Smokey has never done anything like this before, but Aunt Minnie is obdurate. When a skirt is ruined in the same way, Aunt Minnie says that Smokey will have to go. Turtle is distraught, since she and Smokey have never been separated.

As she ponders what to do, Turtle hears a scream. She runs downstairs to find Aunt Minnie spinning round in circles, screaming and smacking her back. A large scorpion has gotten into her nightgown and stung her severely. Smokey kills the scorpion, and the doctor comes to give Aunt Minnie an injection. When she wakes, she is delirious and mistakes Turtle for Sadiebelle, her sister and Turtle’s mother. Later in the day, she recovers...