Section 3 (part 3 of 5)

Oh Gosh! There are so many good things to highlight in this section...

I have decided that I am just going to focus on the part where Rose gets a job teaching.
 

"Mom had the same problems she'd had in Battle Mountain with organizing her paperwork and

disciplining her students. At least one morning a week, she'd throw a tantrum and refuse to go to work,

and Lori, Brian, and I would have to get her collected and down to the street where Lucy Jo waited with

a scowl, blue smoke chugging up out of the Dart's rustedthrough tailpipe."

 

These lines illustrate the reverse roles of the children and the parents. The Walls' children are incredibly mature and understand how life works. No money=No food. I just have a little bit of trouble comprehending Rose's behavior. She has a house that is literally falling apart...the floors and ceiling are rotting. Her kids are constantly out of food. Rex is always borrowing money from her and not giving it back. In her mind, how does this add up? How can you just not want to go to work...?

 

Another example of reverse roles in this section is below.

"Four days later, when Dad still hadn't come home, Mom sent me to go find him. "Why do I always have

to get Dad?" I asked.

"Because he likes you the best," she said. "And he'll come home if you tell him to."

My first stop, as always, was Junior's. It was the fanciest bar in Welch, with a picture window, a grill

that served hamburgers and french fries, and a pinball machine.

"Hey!" one of the regulars called out when I walked in. "It's Rex's little girl. How ya doin', sweetheart?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Is my dad here?"

"Rex?" He turned to the man next to him. "Where's that old polecat Rex?"

"I seen him this morning at the Howdy House."

"Honey, you look like you could use a rest," the bartender said. "Sit down and have a CocaCola

on the

house."

"No, thank you. I've got kites to fly and fish to fry."

I went to the Howdy House, which was a notch below Junior's. It was smaller and darker, and the only

food it served was pickled eggs. The bartender told me Dad had gone to the Pub, which was a notch

below the Howdy House—almost pitch black, with a sticky bar top and no food at all. There he was, in

the midst of a few other regulars, telling one of his air force stories.

When Dad saw me, he stopped talking and looked at me the way he did every time I had to track him

down in a bar. It was always an awkward moment for us both. I didn't want to be fetching him any more

than he wanted his ragamuffin daughter summoning him home like a wayward schoolboy. He looked at

me in this cold, strange way for just a moment, then broke into a hearty grin.

"Hey, Mountain Goat!" he shouted. "What the hell are you doing in this dive?"

"Mom says you have to come home," I said.

"She does, does she?" He ordered a CocaCola

for me and another shot of whiskey for himself. I kept

telling Dad it was time to go, but he kept putting me off and ordering more shots, as if he had to gulp a

whole bunch of them down before he could face home. He staggered off to the bathroom, came back,

ordered one for the road, slammed the shot glass down on the bar, and walked to the door. He lost his

footing trying to open it and sprawled on the floor. I tried to help him up, but he kept falling over.

"Honey, you ain't getting him nowhere like that," a man behind me said. "Here, let me give you a lift

home."

"I'd appreciate that, sir," I said. "If it's not out of your way."

Jeanette has to go out and find her dad. FIND HER DAD. Usually isn't it the parents job to go out and find their kids? Its also extremely hard to believe that he hadn't been home for 4 days. He is the parent and therefore does have paternal responsibility. Its very hard for me to imagine living like this. Personally, I think I have everything. There is [almost] always a full fridge of fruits and vegetables and a pantry full of beans, lentils, etc. I have electricity. In the summer if its hot out I can come inside and turn the air on. If its FREEZING out, and there is a draft I turn the heat on. I personally think that there is a parental responsibility to keep it this way. Kids shouldn't have to provide completely for themselves. Yes, I believe that sometimes there is a little financial hardships and a teenager can go get a job and pay for little things that they want/need. It is completely different for kids to fend for themselves, and even parent the parents. :(