The Little Friend

Often, other people in Harriet’s house are asleep. One day, while alone, Harriet goes through her father’s gun cabinet. The guns are not loaded, but there’s some ammunition. Harriet imagines shooting Mrs. Fountain and uses a Winchester to spy on other neighbors through the scope.

Harriet and Hely attend Sunday School, where their teacher is Roy Dial, who also runs a Chevrolet dealership. Mr. Dial judges the children in his class and feels like it’s not worth his time to teach kids from certain families, such as the Ratliffs and Odums. Curtis Ratliff is disabled, and Mr. Dial doesn’t call on him to answer questions. He believes Ratliffs and Odums will turn out like their parents, who use substances and pay their car notes late, despite any efforts he might take in teaching them. However, he respects Harriet and Hely’s families and is disappointed when they can’t answer his questions properly. Mr. Dial assigns the children to write down anonymous goals, then refuses to read Curtis’s. On Harriet’s paper, she just draws a simple black mark, which disturbs everyone. Harriet is troubled because she doesn’t know what her goals are. She could try to win the library’s summer reading contest, but she has already accomplished that.