Raymie Nightingale

Raymie, Beverly, and Louisiana sit with Granny on the floor eating tuna fish out of cans and drinking water out of paper cups. The house has no electricity, and the room darkens as a storm rolls in. Louisiana thinks about Archie and gets upset. Beverly comforts Louisiana by reminding her of their successful day. Granny chats to Beverly, inquiring where her father is a police officer, and Beverly reveals for the first time that her father is in New York City and that she has run away twice to try and join him. Raymie is stunned that Beverly is fatherless, too, and that Beverly has kept this information quiet for so long.

Granny drives Raymie and Beverly back home, a somber ride following the revelation about Beverly’s father. Raymie’s mother is waiting for her at home with more sad news: Mrs. Borkowski had a heart attack and has died. Raymie is distraught over Mrs. Borkowski’s death. Seeking comfort, she calls Mrs. Sylvester, who is always kind and optimistic and interprets the quiet sobs and broken sentences from Raymie as sadness about her father. Raymie is too upset to correct her.

At the memorial for Mrs.