Journal #5 - Chapters 13-15 - Perspective: Scout

Scout's Diary

What a surprise... Aunt Alexandra is staying with us for “a while”. I'm not sure what she means by a while, because in Maycomb it could be three days to thirty years! Anyways, apparently she came to give us “feminine influence”. I'm not sure if it's a good thing, because I like how I am right now. People keep telling me I need to be more ladylike, to not do things boys should do, and stuff like that. I think it's just a bunch of crap that they tell me. It's sexist! I want to be just the way I am, which is doing whatever I want. Oh, if only Aunt Alexandra would understand that no matter what, I wouldn't change.

Our conversations are terribly painful to me, because she asks all the worst questions. She asks what I've been doing, and I say nothing. It's just a pain to have her think I'm boring. She even told Atticus that I was sluggish! I just don't get how Atticus thinks he's doing us a favor by having her live with us. To me, it's not so much a favor. Still, everyone welcomed her to Maycomb, and she became a normal part of the social life. She talked to us about the Maycomb families and such, but I've never heard of them. Atticus never told us, so he started now. He was pretty serious about it too, so much that he yelled at me and I cried. He went back to normal soon though, and it was alright afterwards.

After that, I asked Atticus what rape was. He asked why I asked, and it was 'cause Cal wouldn't answer at the church. When we brought up the topic, Aunt Alexandra banned me from going to the church, which was just downright ridiculous. She even tried to get rid of Cal! Thank god Atticus refused her, because I would be so lost without Cal. Cal's been there for us whenever we needed her, and she's one of my best friends.

That night, Jem tried to tell me what to do. What a morphodite! He's just so bossy these days, thinks he's all high and mighty. I was fist-fighting him, and eventually we had an all out brawl. At least till Atticus came and broke up the fight.

When we went to sleep, I heard something rustling under my bed. I thought it was a snake! I asked Jem to beat it up, but we found out it was only Dill. How in the sam heck did he get all the way over here?! The next thing we knew, we were hearing his story. He had taken the 9:00 Meridian to Maycomb Junction, and hitched a ride on a cotton wagon. It was a weird story, but I'm glad that I'm able to see Dill again. However, when Atticus came and found out, he begged not to go back to Aunt Rachel. Aunt Rachel found out, but she let him stay here for a night. He came into my bed in the middle of the night so we could talk. He wanted to get a baby, and so did I. We didn't exactly know where they came from though, so I guess I'll find out eventually.

A week later, Heck Tate came over to our house. It was weird, because they were talking outside about some sort of crazy mob with his case. Anyways, at about 10:00, Atticus takes the car over to somewhere. We (Jem, Dill and I) decided to follow him. We snuck out and saw Atticus reading the paper in front of the jail. What was he doing there? Jem, being the bossy morphodite he is, wanted us all to go home so we wouldn't bother Atticus, but I wanted to stay a little longer.

Right when he suggested leaving, four cars pulled up to the jail, and a large group of men get out. They told Atticus to move from the door, but he refused. What the heck was going on? Anyways, I dove out of my hiding place to greet them, but after I got there I realized I dove into a pit full of strangers I've never seen before! Jem and Dill followed me into the pit as well. Atticus told us to just go home, but we didn't want to.

The next thing, we got a little scared. One of the men said we had fifteen seconds to go home, and I was freaked out because it looked like he was gonna try something. We didn't leave though, and nothing happened. I saw Mr. Cunningham in the crowd, and I said hi to him. I tried talking to him, but he wouldn't budge. When I mentioned the legal entailments, he flushed red and caved. The next thing, they go ahead and leave. I don't even know what that was about, but it sure looked like the mob wasn't intending to be friendly. After all of that, Mr. Underwood all of the sudden comes out and said he had Atticus covered! Still, I'm glad that he did, because they might have tried something.

~Scout