The Man Who Loved Clowns

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying, ableism, and death.

Later that Sunday afternoon, Aunt Queenie goes to visit Mrs. Shackleford, since she’s a new member of the church. When Queenie comes home, she tells Delrita that the Shacklefords are very nice. She urges Delrita to try to work things out with Avanelle. Queenie also shares that Mrs. Shackleford says her husband was wrongly convicted. Delrita thinks that the same thing happened to her with Avanelle’s letter.

On Friday, Punky gets his first paycheck. He proudly shows it to everyone. Wanting to celebrate, Uncle Bert takes everyone to the bank to cash the check, insisting that the cashier give it to them all in one-dollar bills. They go out to dinner and then buy a new television for Punky. Delrita notices that Punky seems a lot happier since he started working. He has stopped pulling out his hair and chewing on his fingers.

It’s Saturday morning, and Punky can’t wait to get to the athletic field. Aunt Queenie asks if Delrita will accompany them to the practice session. Delrita would prefer to stay home and work on her wood carving of Herkimer, but they convince her to go.