After the funeral director brings them home, Ellen’s daddy takes off and Ellen eats the food that neighbors left. Ellen goes through her mother’s clothes and decides to wear something of hers to school the next day. She does not like her teachers expressing curiosity about how her mother died. She walks home with Starletta and tries to stay out of her father’s way. He does nothing but eat and sleep.

Her father signs over their farm to his brothers Rudolph and Ellis, and each month one of the brothers delivers some cash in an envelope. Ellen makes sure to retrieve it first, setting aside money for the electric and gas bills, food, and extras. In attempting to feed herself, Ellen decides she prefers frozen meals. Each week, the bus driver drops her off at the grocery store and Ellen finds someone to take her home. Starletta’s daddy takes Ellen to buy a winter coat.

When she doesn’t have Starletta to play with, Ellen plays “catalog” by creating a family and then picking out things for them. She joins the Girl Scouts and buys herself the uniform. Starletta has a fit that she cannot have a uniform because, Ellen says, “[T]hey do not have a colored troop in my county.