wrong foot."
"Let him go, Scout. Why?"
"He didn't have any lunch," I said, and explained my involvement
in Walter's dietary affairs.
Walter had picked himself up and was standing quietly listening to
Jem and me. His fists were half cocked, as if expecting an onslaught
from both of us. I stomped at him to chase him away, but Jem put out
his hand and stopped me. He examined Walter with an air of
speculation. "Your daddy Mr. Walter Cunningham from Old Sarum?" he
asked, and Walter nodded.
Walter looked as if he had been raised on fish food: his eyes, as
blue as Dill Harris's, were red-rimmed and watery. There was no
color in his face except at the tip of his nose, which was moistly
pink. He fingered the straps of his overalls, nervously picking at the
metal hooks.
Jem suddenly grinned at him. "Come on home to dinner with us,
Walter," he said. "We'd be glad to have you."
Walter's face brightened, then darkened.
Jem said, "Our daddy's a friend of your daddy's. Scout here, she's
crazy- she won't fight you any more."
"I wouldn't be too certain of that," I said. Jem's free dispensation
of my pledge irked me, but precious noontime minutes were ticking
away. "Yeah Walter, I won't jump on you again. Don't you like
butterbeans? Our Cal's a real good cook."
Walter stood where he was, biting his lip. Jem and I gave up, and we
were nearly to the Radley Place when Walter called, "Hey, I'm comin'!"
When Walter caught up with us, Jem made pleasant conversation with
him. "A hain't lives there," he said cordially, pointing to the Radley
house. "Ever hear about him, Walter?"
"Reckon I have," said Walter. "Almost died first year I come to
school and et them pecans- folks say he pizened 'em and put 'em over
on the school side of the fence."
Jem seemed to have little fear of Boo Radley now that Walter and I
walked beside him. Indeed, Jem grew boastful: "I went all the way up
to the house once," he said to Walter.
"Anybody who went up to the house once oughta not to still run every
time he passes it," I said to the clouds above.
"And who's runnin', Miss Priss?"
"You are, when ain't anybody with you."
By the time we reached our front steps Walter had forgotten he was a
Cunningham. Jem ran to the kitchen and asked Calpurnia to set an extra
plate, we had company. Atticus greeted Walter and began a discussion
about crops neither Jem nor I could follow.
"Reason I can't pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I've had to stay
out ever' spring an' help Papa with the choppin', but there's
another'n at the house now that's field size."
"Did you pay a bushel of potatoes for him?" I asked, but Atticus
shook his head at me.
While Walter piled food on his plate, he and Atticus talked together
like two men, to the wonderment of Jem and me. Atticus was
expounding upon farm problems when Walter interrupted to ask if
there was any molasses in the house. Atticus summoned Calpurnia, who
returned bearing the syrup pitcher. She stood waiting for Walter to
help himself. Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a
generous hand. He would probably have poured it into his milk glass
had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing.
The silver saucer clattered when he replaced the pitcher, and he
quickly put his hands in his lap. Then he ducked his head.
Atticus shook his head at me again. "But he's gone and drowned his
dinner in syrup," I protested. "He's poured it all over-"
It was then that Calpurnia requested my presence in the kitchen.
She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia's grammar became
erratic. When in tranquility, her grammar was as good as anybody's
in Maycomb. Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most
colored folks.
When she squinted down at me the tiny lines around her eyes
deepened. "There's some folks who don't eat like us," she whispered
fiercely, "but you ain't called on to contradict 'em at the table when
they don't. That boy's yo' comp'ny and if he wants to eat up the table
cloth you let him, you hear?"
"He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham-"
"Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in
this house's yo' comp'ny, and don't you let me catch you remarkin'
on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo' folks might be
better'n the Cunninghams but it don't count for nothin' the way you're
disgracin' 'em- if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can
just set here and eat in the kitchen!"
Calpurnia sent me through the swinging door to the diningroom with a
stinging smack. I retrieved my plate and finished dinner in the
kitchen, thankful, though, that I was spared the humiliation of facing
them again. I told Calpurnia to just wait, I'd fix her: one of these
days when she wasn't looking I'd go off and drown myself in Barker's
Eddy and then she'd be sorry. Besides, I added, she'd already gotten
me in trouble once today: she had taught me to write and it was all
her fault. "Hush your fussin'," she said.
Jem and Walter returned to school ahead of me: staying behind to
advise Atticus of Calpurnia's iniquities was worth a solitary sprint
past the Radley Place. "She likes Jem better'n she likes me,
anyway," I concluded, and suggested that Atticus lose no time in
packing her off.
"Have you ever considered that Jem doesn't worry her half as
much?" Atticus's voice was flinty. "I've no intention of getting rid
of her, now or ever. We couldn't operate a single day without Cal,
have you ever thought of that? You think about how much Cal does for
you, and you mind her, you hear?"
I returned to school and hated Calpurnia steadily until a sudden
shriek shattered my resentments. I looked up to see Miss Caroline
standing in the middle of the room, sheer horror flooding her face.
Apparently she had revived enough to persevere in her profession.
"It's alive!" she screamed.
The male population of the class rushed as one to her assistance.
Lord, I thought, she's scared of a mouse. Little Chuck Little, whose
patience with all living things was phenomenal, said, "Which way did
he go, Miss Caroline? Tell us where he went, quick! D.C.-" he turned
to a boy behind him- "D.C., shut the door and we'll catch him.
Quick, ma'am, where'd he go?"
Miss Caroline pointed a shaking finger not at the floor nor at a
desk, but to a hulking individual unknown to me. Little Chuck's face
contracted and he said gently, "You mean him, ma'am? Yessum, he's
alive. Did he scare you some way?"
Miss Caroline said desperately, "I was just walking by when it
crawled out of his hair... just crawled out of his hair-"
Little Chuck grinned broadly. "There ain't no need to fear a cootie,
ma'am. Ain't you ever seen one? Now don't you be afraid, you just go
back to your desk and teach us some more."
Little Chuck Little was another member of the population who
didn't know where his next meal was coming from, but he was a born
gentleman. He put his hand under her elbow and led Miss Caroline to
the front of the room. "Now don't you fret, ma'am," he said. "There
ain't no need to fear a cootie. I'll just fetch you some cool water."
The cootie's host showed not the faintest interest in the furor he
had wrought. He searched the scalp above his forehead, located his
guest and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.
Miss Caroline watched the process in horrid fascination. Little
Chuck brought water in a paper cup, and she drank it gratefully.
Finally she found her voice. "What is your name, son?" she asked
softly.
The boy blinked. "Who, me?" Miss Caroline nodded.
"Burris Ewell."
Miss Caroline inspected her roll-book. "I have a Ewell here, but I
don't have a first name... would you spell your first name for me?"
"Don't know how. They call me Burris't home."
"Well, Burris," said Miss Caroline, "I think we'd better excuse
you for the rest of the afternoon. I want you to go home and wash your
hair."
From her desk she produced a thick volume, leafed through its
pages and read for a moment. "A good home remedy for- Burris, I want
you to go home and wash your hair with lye soap. When you've done
that, treat your scalp with kerosene."
"What fer, missus?"
"To get rid of the- er, cooties. You see, Burris, the other children
might catch them, and you wouldn't want that, would you?"
The boy stood up. He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His
neck was dark gray, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his
fingernails were black deep into the quick. He peered at Miss Caroline
from a fist-sized clean space on his face. No one had noticed him,
probably, because Miss Caroline and I had entertained the class most
of the morning.
"And Burris," said Miss Caroline, "please bathe yourself before
you come back tomorrow."
The boy laughed rudely. "You ain't sendin' me home, missus. I was on
the verge of leavin'- I done done my time for this year."
Miss Caroline looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"
The boy did not answer. He gave a short contemptuous snort.
One of the elderly members of the class answered her: "He's one of
the Ewells, ma'am," and I wondered if this explanation would be as
unsuccessful as my attempt. But Miss Caroline seemed willing to
listen. "Whole school's full of 'em. They come first day every year
and then leave. The truant lady gets 'em here 'cause she threatens 'em
with the sheriff, but she's give up tryin' to hold 'em. She reckons
she's carried out the law just gettin' their names on the roll and
runnin' 'em here the first day. You're supposed to mark 'em absent the
rest of the year..."
"But what about their parents?" asked Miss Caroline, in genuine
concern.
"Ain't got no mother," was the answer, "and their paw's right
contentious."
Burris Ewell was flattered by the recital. "Been comin' to the first
day o' the first grade fer three year now," he said expansively.
"Reckon if I'm smart this year they'll promote me to the second...."
Miss Caroline said, "Sit back down, please, Burris," and the
