Wish

Wishbone doesn’t like being on the leash, but Charlie manages to get him into the house, where she and Bertha enjoy watching him explore with his snout. Charlie is worried that Wishbone won’t get along with Bertha’s cats, but they just scoot away when Wishbone sniffs them. Wishbone sleeps on the floor next to Charlie, and the next day she bathes him and takes him to Howard’s house. Howard and Cotton fawn over the dog, but when Mrs. Odom comes outside, Charlie is worried that she is angry with her. Mrs. Odom invites Charlie in for squirrel pie, and the boys howl with laughter. Mrs. Odom isn’t angry at Charlie, and she says, “I’m so glad to have a feisty female around here. […] I have been needing a girl on my team” (109). Hearing Mrs. Odom say that makes Charlie feel special, and she wishes she could bottle the feeling and open it anytime she feels lonely or sad. Charlie tells Howard that they have a fenced yard in Raleigh, but he wonders if her mother will object to the dog. Charlie insists that her mother will love Wishbone and that she is certain she is returning home soon. Howard’s face falls in sadness.

Charlie returns home, where Gus has purchased a new red leash and a nametag for Wishbone. Overcome with joy at finally having a pet of her own and at Gus’s generosity, Charlie feels content knowing that Wishbone now has a home. However, it makes her wonder where her own home truly is.

At church, Charlie finds her blessings flower on the bulletin board and adds, “I am healthy” and “I have a dog named Wishbone” (112). This week in Sunday school, the children are making a list of sins on the board. Charlie can’t think of one to add, but Audrey suggests adding kicking and shoving. Howard worries that Charlie will get angry, but instead, she sincerely apologizes to Audrey for her behavior.

Charlie wears Jackie’s boots on the last day of school, even though some students still poke fun at her. On the bus, Charlie tells Howard that even though Wishbone dug up some of Gus’s beans, he was not angry, and Bertha just responded with a funny story about her cousin’s dog. Charlie thinks about her friends back in Raleigh and feels like they have forgotten her. No one has called or written except for her friend Carlene Morgan, who sent a postcard. Jackie’s calls have become more infrequent, and even though Bertha told Charlie she could invite some of her Raleigh friends to visit, she knows they wouldn’t like Colby. Charlie looks forward to spending the summer with Wishbone. She sees three birds sitting on a line and makes her daily wish.

Charlie’s father sends her a brief letter telling her that his bed is uncomfortable and the food is bad in prison. He says he will send money to Bertha and Gus soon and signs the letter with love. Charlie hoped for more but lingers on the word love. Finding the first day of summer boring, Charlie decides to take Wishbone to visit Howard. When she arrives at his house, he is working on a crossword puzzle, which she finds strange. Howard offers to help her study for Bible Detective, but Charlie says no. She instead tells Howard about the letter and briefly considers lying to him about the contents. However, Charlie knows that she can trust Howard, so she tells him the truth. Howard suggests that they make cookies to send to Scrappy.

Howard and Charlie take Wishbone to play in the creek, but Charlie keeps him on the leash, fearful that he might run away. As they watch Wishbone splash in the water, they both say, “Look at him!” (124) at the same time, and Charlie says that they should hook pinkies and make a wish. At first, Howard says he doesn’t have anything to wish for, but Charlie encourages him to find something. After they make their wish, Charlie tries to guess Howard’s wish and blurts out that he probably wishes that he didn’t walk with a limp. Howard’s face falls, but he says nothing and walks away. Charlie feels awful, and as she sits by the creek to lament her mistake, Wishbone bolts after a chipmunk, ripping the leash from her hands.

Charlie frantically searches the woods but can’t find Wishbone. She trudges home, feeling guilty over the unkind words she said to Howard and worrying about Wishbone. She passes by Howard’s home and can hear the lively sounds of their family dinner. When she arrives home, Charlie goes straight to her room and cries herself to sleep. Bertha wakes her up later and tries to get her to eat her favorite meal, grits with cheese and bacon, but Charlie refuses. Bertha says Gus is out looking for Wishbone and she can trust him to do his best to find the dog. Charlie worries that Wishbone has decided to live in the wild, but Bertha insists that he loves his new home, saying, “One, he eats bologna for breakfast. Two, he sleeps on a pillow, and three, he is loved by an angel” (130). Charlie can’t believe that Bertha thinks she is an angel. She confesses to Bertha that she said something terrible to Howard. At first, Bertha is silent, but then she hugs Charlie and offers again to fix her some grits.

Gus does not find Wishbone that night, but Bertha says he promised to resume looking after he gets in from work. Charlie asks Bertha if she wants to know what she said to Howard. Bertha reminds Charlie that everyone has had a time when they said something they regret. She explains that it’s not the mistake that matters but how a person fixes their mistake that makes a difference. Just then, Howard appears at the door holding a basket. He asks if she wants to look for wild strawberries. Bertha encourages her to go and promises to keep a lookout for Wishbone while she’s gone. When Charlie tells Howard that Wishbone is missing, he offers to help her look for him.

While they look for Wishbone, Charlie can’t find the right words to apologize to Howard. After looking everywhere with no luck, they returned to Howard’s house for lunch. When Charlie sees Mrs. Odom, she wonders if Howard told her what she said about his wish, but Mrs. Odom doesn’t mention it and encourages Charlie to remain hopeful that they will find Wishbone. Later, Burl drives them into town to search around restaurant dumpsters and post missing dog signs.

Jackie calls after dinner and only talks about herself. She has a job at Waffle House but hates it, and she broke up with her boyfriend. She visited Scrappy and saw his new tattoo of a bird on his hand. Frustrated with Jackie’s selfishness, Charlie interrupts and asks if Jackie cares at all about what is happening in her life in Colby. She pours her heart out about losing Wishbone and how she feels lost and abandoned by her entire family before hanging up the phone. Jackie calls back and apologizes to Charlie, saying that she knows it has been hard on her to have to move away, but she thinks their mom is recovering and promises to visit Charlie soon. Charlie wonders how Jackie can think it is all so simple, because she knows that her family cannot be fixed that easily. Jackie lists all the fun things they can do when she visits Raleigh, but Charlie still feels like she doesn’t understand what life is like for her in Colby.

Gus, Bertha, and Charlie drive around looking for Wishbone while Bertha tells a story about a family finding a lost dog 400 miles from its home. They look everywhere but can’t find him. When they return home, Charlie is overjoyed to find Wishbone eating the bait left in the trap, with his collar and leash still attached.

Everyone celebrates Wishbone’s return by feeding him a special dinner and letting him sleep in Charlie’s bed. She teaches him tricks, and he seems content to be back at home with Charlie. Each night, they sit on the porch, and Bertha tells Charlie more stories about Gus’s dog Skeeter. As the summer wanes, Charlie visits the Odoms’ house every day with Wishbone, but she still hasn’t apologized for her unthinking words to Howard the day that Wishbone ran away. Charlie enjoys watching all the Odom brothers come and go, and she and Howard entertain themselves by telling jokes and making homemade popsicles. Mr. Odom makes them a pool by putting a tarp in his truck bed and filling it with water, but they both wish they had a real swimming pool instead. Charlie says that when she returns to Raleigh, she is going to take swimming lessons. Howard asks when she is going back, but Charlie isn’t certain. Howard wishes she could stay and that his father could take them and Wishbone to the river.

Howard wants to go to the creek, but it reminds Charlie of the day she said the awful thing to Howard and when Wishbone ran away. She finally summons the courage to sincerely apologize to Howard, but afterward, he doesn’t respond in his usual dismissive way. Instead, he says, “I’m used to kids saying mean things about the way I walk” (147). Charlie feels awful for being lumped into the same group as the other kids who make fun of Howard. She spies a blackbird feather and insists that Howard stick it in the mud and make a wish. He says there’s no point, because his wish will never come true. Charlie says she’s been wishing for the same thing since fourth grade, and it’s never happened, but Howard is unmoved. Charlie puts the feather in the mud and makes her wish. She feels better having apologized to Howard, but she isn’t sure whether she has managed to repair their friendship.

Jackie is coming for a visit, and Charlie works diligently to prepare for her arrival by putting away Wishbone’s toys and cleaning her room. Wanting to make the room look more like it belongs only to her, Charlie hides the canning jar shelves by hanging a towel and pushes Gus’s extra clothes to the back of the closet. Charlie imagines that Jackie’s room she shares with Carol Lee must be decorated nicely, and she feels embarrassed by her own tiny, shabby room.

On the ride to the bus station, while Bertha chatters endlessly about the landscape, Charlie fantasizes how Jackie might be so saddened by her living situation that she would immediately decide to take her back to Raleigh. However, when Jackie arrives, she bonds with Gus and Bertha immediately. They talk incessantly on the way home about all the things they plan to do, and Charlie is jealous that none of the plans involve her. When Jackie shows Charlie her blue-streaked hair and says, “[T]his is the new me,” (154) Charlie wonders if that means that Jackie wants a new life without a sister. Jackie loves everything about Gus and Bertha’s house and tells Charlie she is lucky to live there and have her own room. Charlie wonders how Jackie can think that getting removed from home and family makes a person lucky. Charlie loves Gus and Bertha, but it’s hard not to love them, because they are so kind. When Charlie introduces Jackie to Wishbone, she is impressed by all his tricks, but when Charlie mentions bringing him to Raleigh, Jackie makes a strained face and says nothing.

Later, Charlie and Jackie fall into their old sisterly rhythms, and Charlie feels content to be sharing a room with her sister again. Charlie feels conflicted because she is happily living in a home where no one is fighting, and she knows part of what Jackie said about her being lucky is true. However, she still feels like an outsider in Colby and is uncertain where her real home is anymore.

Jackie settles easily into life in Colby and charms everyone she meets. She visits Bertha’s knitting club, starts a vegetable stand, and enjoys talking with the neighbors that stop by to purchase food. All of Howard’s brothers are smitten with her, especially Burl. Charlie envies the ease with which Jackie fits in with everyone and how she always has a good story to tell. On the Odoms’ porch, Jackie regales everyone with stories from working at the Waffle House, or as she and her friends call it, the “Awful House” (163). Jackie follows Howard and Charlie to the creek, and he asks her about visiting Scrappy in jail. Even though the question shocks Charlie, Jackie unashamedly describes her father’s life inside the prison. Howard tells Jackie about the Bible Detective game, but Jackie says that Charlie probably isn’t good at it since they never read the Bible in their house.

Mrs. Odom invites Jackie and Charlie to dinner, and Jackie entertains everyone with stories from Raleigh. She even charms Mr. Odom by asking him about his trucking job. Charlie watches her sister, in awe of her wit and charisma as Wishbone licks up crumbs off the floor.

Jackie puts Charlie’s hair into French braids for church, and Bertha tells her she should investigate a career as a hairstylist. Bertha tells a story about her friend who failed beauty school, and Jackie loves it. She never seems bored by Bertha’s endless stories like Charlie often does. Bertha invites the entire Odom family over for Sunday dinner and prepares a feast, including a roast chicken. When the Odoms arrive, the house overflows with people, and Charlie notices how Burl swoons over Jackie in her white sundress. Charlie feels like she could never be as pretty as her sister. After Mr. Odom says the blessing, everyone digs in and eats until they are stuffed. Cotton finds the wishbone in the chicken, and Charlie jumps up, claiming it’s hers, but Dwight says he wants it too. When Cotton refuses to hand it over and Howard sees Charlie’s temper flaring, he reminds her to say “pineapple” and kindly asks Dwight to share the wishbone with Charlie, promising him some of his Bible bucks in exchange. For a moment, Charlie worries that Howard will tell everyone about her daily wishes, but he doesn’t, and Charlie pulls the bigger side of the bone and makes her wish.

Jackie’s visit comes to an end, but Charlie doesn’t want her to leave. She pulls weeds in the garden to relieve her sadness while Jackie and Bertha repair a zipper. Charlie will miss Jackie, but she is also jealous that her sister gets to go back to her normal life in Raleigh while she must stay in Colby. They visit the Odoms so Jackie can say goodbye, and Jackie promises the downcast brothers that they can visit her in Raleigh at the Waffle House, and she will make them special chocolate chip waffles. Jackie says Charlie can visit too, but when Charlie quickly replies, “I’ll be going back there to live,” (176) Jackie doesn’t respond.

After Bertha makes a special meatloaf dinner for Jackie’s last night, Charlie solemnly watches Jackie pack her belongings and longs to ask her sister what will become of her. Once they’re in bed, Charlie asks Jackie if she can return home with her. Jackie tells Charlie that their parents are not going to change, and that she and Charlie must accept their current circumstances. Jackie is saving money to rent an apartment with a friend, but she cannot take care of Charlie. Jackie remembers her mother abandoning them and coming to Colby when she was seven, but she doesn’t hate her mother for leaving them. Jackie encourages Charlie to be grateful that she has Gus and Bertha to love and care for her, along with the Odoms and Wishbone. Jackie begs Charlie not to hate her for leaving her in Colby. Charlie thinks that she could never hate Jackie, but she cannot find the words to tell her sister how much she loves her.