Walk Two Moons

When Sal, Phoebe, and Mary Lou get to the Finneys’ house, it’s in utter chaos. The boys are running everywhere, while Mr. Finney is cooking with four-year-old Tommy’s help. Phoebe whispers that she’s not “optimistic” about this meal. Mrs. Finney comes home at about 6:00 p.m., and the boys argue about who gets to tell her things first. She ignores them and kisses Mr. Finney. Finally, everyone sits down. Phoebe points out to Sal that the plates don’t match. Then, when she sees that they’re having fried chicken, she says she has a sensitive stomach and can’t eat it. She puts two pieces of chicken from Ben’s plate back on the serving dish, insisting there’s cholesterol in the chicken.

Phoebe tells Mrs. Finney she can’t eat the chicken, and she insists Mr. Finney shouldn’t either—men have to be careful of cholesterol. As the beans get to Phoebe, Phoebe asks if there’s butter on the them. There is, so Phoebe says she can’t eat the beans—butter has cholesterol in it. Mrs. Finney warns Mr. Finney about the cholesterol, and Sal can tell that she’s not the only one frustrated with Phoebe. Phoebe goes on to refuse the potatoes too, and everyone else stares at their plates.

Finally, Mrs. Finney asks Phoebe what she eats. Phoebe says Mrs. Winterbottom makes low-calorie, cholesterol-free vegetarian meals, and that she’s a great cook. Sal wants to blurt out that Phoebe is acting like this because Mrs. Winterbottom disappeared, but she stays quiet. Phoebe asks for “unadulterated” vegetables or one of her mother’s casseroles. Mrs. Finney finally finds Phoebe muesli with milk. Phoebe usually eats it with yogurt, but the Finneys don’t have any. As Sal eats, she remembers that eating at Gram and Gramps’s house in Bybanks felt a lot like eating at the Finneys’. Maybe Momma wanted a house like this, full of kids and “confusion.”

As Sal and Phoebe walk home, Sal asks if everyone seemed quiet after dinner. Phoebe sighs that they were quiet because of “all that cholesterol sitting heavily on their stomachs.” Impulsively, Sal invites Phoebe to spend the weekend with her. Phoebe starts to say something about Mrs. Winterbottom but instead says she’ll ask her dad. The girls find Mr. Winterbottom in the kitchen, washing dishes in a frilly apron. Phoebe critiques his technique. He looks sad, but Phoebe doesn’t notice. Mr. Winterbottom says that he’ll have Mrs. Winterbottom call Phoebe at Sal’s if Mrs. Winterbottom calls over the weekend. That night, Phoebe calls Sal’s house to say that she thinks she caught her father crying—but he never cries.