Journal #1- Chapters 1-3 from the perspective of Jem

Jem's Journal~

This week stood out from the monotone summer. On the first day, we met this kid named Dill. Glad he had a nickname that fit his size, unlike his oversized “Charles Baker Harris”. Boasting about how he knew how to read, but my sis Scout one-upped him. Still, he became one of us. He had a few eccentric things to tell and do. Later that day, we talked about the Radleys. That house of theirs was the malevolent house no one dared get near. All sorts of stories were going about them.

No one knew about the ma and pa of the family, but they had two sons. However, Boo Radley... he was one scary kid. He and his gang got arrested once, and Boo was sentenced to an industrial school. His father declined, however. A while after, Boo tried to kill all of his family. That's just how crazy he was- he was even locked in the courthouse basement. Dill dared me to knock on the front door. I was scared of course, but I never back down. He changed it to just touch the house to make it a bit easier. It was pretty scary, but it was only a minute of my life. I did see a little movement in the house though. Was it my imagination?

The next day, I condescended to take Scout to school. I was paid, though, so it was all good. I don't want her embarrassing me though, so I told her not to bother me at all. School went by like a breeze, and I was out in no time. Scout irked me about her day with Mrs. Caroline, but I couldn't care less. She didn't seem like a very good teacher from what I heard. Newcomers to Maycomb almost never get anything right.

The day after that, Scout and I came to school as usual. I saw her rubbing Walter Cunningham's nose in the dirt. Why was she doing this? Maybe it was something from her school experience yesterday... was it the fact that he supposedly got Scout in trouble? I wouldn't know, but maybe it was. Walter looked like a twig; he probably wasn't fed very well. I'm surprised he's still alive, after being in this condition. Still, being the nice guy I am, I invited him over to dinner. “Why not?”, I thought. He couldn't be that bad.

On the way home, having them two by my side gave me comfort. I didn't worry about Boo Radley nearly as much. In fact, I even told them my courageous story of how I went all the way up to the house once. Scout made fun of me as usual, but I persevered in my joyfulness. We continued our trek home, and shortly we reached the front steps of our house.

Walter started pouring molasses on his food like crazy! What the heck was he doing?! I didn't want to say anything though, because that would be rude. It's not smart to get into trouble you don't need to be in. Scout doesn't understand this, however, and goes ahead and asks what the sam hill he was doing. She was in for a long Calpurnia-style lecture. I overheard, and it seemed like Cal lost her temper.

The next day, Walter and I started for school. Scout followed after, and I heard her mumbling about how Cal liked me better. After school breezed by, Scout and I ran to meet Atticus. We returned home, and we saw Cal with a smile on her face. Evidently she was in a good mood, because she had a surprise for us. Crackling bread! She said she missed us, and I was glad to be back.

I spent the Saturday in the treehouse. I would have stayed there for a while, until Scout and Atticus started ignoring me and I had to come down to eat. It was a fun week, one more interesting than all the others. My best hopes go to having a fun time tomorrow. Maybe one without as much trouble.