Eggs

The girl shows David her room: the junker van with dried eggs on the windows. Many culprits regularly throw eggs at the van, but she doesn’t care. David is surprised to see the bedroom-like touches that she has added. The girl describes her plans for posters, a white fence, and flower boxes. She shows David a photo in an issue of House Beautiful. David asks about the photo on the dresser. The girl says that the man in the photo is her father; she explains that he isn’t dead, but she doesn’t know where he is. David tells her about his own overwhelmed father, who works far away. David and the teen girl bond over their favorite drink, Mango Madness.

When David tries to ask the girl about Madam Dufee, she resists his questions and teases him. As their conversation continues, she repeatedly lures him into feeling comfortable, then suddenly snaps at him, after which she laughs in delight at having scared him. David eventually learns that Madam Dufee is the girl’s mother and that Madam Dufee believes herself to be psychic. Critical of her mother, the girl believes that fortune-telling is all fake.

David asks about the egg hunt. The girl explains that she was too old to participate, so she snuck in the back way, intending to take some eggs for breakfast. When she heard people coming, she hid and pretended to be dead. David is angry that she tricked him because he showed her his secret memento of his mother. She reassures him that her eyes were closed at the time, but now she asks to see it for real. David refuses.

The girl says her name is Primrose and then criticizes her own name. David worries that this is yet another trick, and that she will snap at him and then laugh. Primrose pulls money from her pocket and offers to buy them both some Mango Madness. She invites him to see where she got the money later that night. David agrees to go with her, as he knows that he can do anything if his father isn’t home. He bikes while she skates. He hopes that she isn’t tricking him about her name because he thinks her name is beautiful.

David climbs out of his first-story window to meet Primrose at 9:30 that night. Primrose has a large wagon, which was built by someone she calls “Refrigerator John.” David asks to pull the wagon; he is nervous in the dark.

Primrose takes David through the neighborhood streets, stopping at each house to raid the garbage for things to salvage and sell at the flea market. Primrose is saving up money to buy paint. They salvage a broken children’s rocking chair that Primrose says Refrigerator John will fix.

David is afraid of the dark, but talking makes him feel better. He asks Primrose questions, wondering what happens if people think they’re robbers. He also asks about Primrose’s braided hair and Madam Dufee’s toe rings. Meanwhile, Primrose collects items in the wagon. When David asks why Primrose was sleeping in the library, she says that he is too young to understand.

David tells Primrose about his mother and her death. He explains that they were supposed to watch the sunrise together. He also tells her that he never breaks rules, but when Primrose tries to get him to explain why, he refuses. She says that he’ll tell her one day. When David declares that he doesn’t like Primrose, she retorts that he probably doesn’t like anyone. David says he likes his dad, but he hasn’t liked anyone since he left Minnesota, and he doesn’t like his grandmother because she acts like his mother. When David asserts that nobody is his mother, Primrose says, “Same here.”

Suddenly, a resident shouts at the kids, and David worries that they’ll call the cops, but Primrose isn’t afraid. Growing tired, David surrenders the wagon to Primrose, climbs inside, and falls asleep despite her protests and mockery. David drifts in and out of sleep for the rest of the night. Eventually, Primrose tucks David back into his bed.

As time goes on, David and Primrose continue to sneak out at night. David begins to sleep in later so that Primrose won’t make fun of him for getting tired. Every night, as she helps him back through his window, he asks what time it is and delights in how late the hour is.

One night, they go to Dunkin’ Donuts, and David tries coffee for the first time. He doesn’t really like coffee, but he likes the idea that his grandmother would be upset if she knew. After returning to his bed, David struggles to fall asleep, and he worries that he’ll accidentally see the sunrise. He promised that he wouldn’t watch the sunrise without his mother, and he believes that if he keeps this promise, she will one day come back. He covers his head with his pillow and forces himself to fall asleep.

David’s grandmother notices that he’s sleeping later, and she begins to worry about him. He knows that she’ll excuse his behavior as “The Sadness.” One night, David lets Primrose into his room, and they stay up late watching television and making jokes. David performs yo-yo tricks for Primrose and shows her his collection of Beetle Bailey comics. She reads every single comic and laughs at the ones she likes.

When they have a pillow fight, David’s grandmother almost catches them, but Primrose manages to hide behind the door just in time. She makes faces at David while he tries to keep a straight face in front of his grandmother. Afterward, Primrose and David continue to watch television. David unwraps one of Primrose’s braids, and she shows him how to redo it. At some point, he falls asleep. He doesn’t know when Primrose leaves, and he doesn’t hear her crying as she goes.

In addition to their other adventures, David and Primrose also visit Refrigerator John every night. Refrigerator John is a short man with a withered leg that shakes when he walks. He has a good friendship with Primrose, and they often joke around with each other. When people mistreat John, Primrose is indignant on his behalf. John likes that Primrose is grumpy and rough around the edges, yet respectful of him and appreciative of his company.

John notes that lately, Primrose has been coming around with a new kid, David, who is only nine. John doesn’t really understand the children’s friendship, since David is much younger and smaller than Primrose. Even so, John enjoys their company. He prefers the company of kids to adults, but most kids don’t like him. They either fear him or mock him.

John has built his own house on the scrapyard. He never had a television, and he never felt like he needed one until the kids started coming around every night. John doesn’t like the idea of them spending all night out on the streets, so he buys a television and stocks his fridge with kid-friendly snacks and drinks. He also provides them with several games. He hopes that they’ll spend more time at his place and stay safe, and his plan works.

David and Primrose prove to be a challenge for John to handle. They argue constantly, picking at each other and fighting over what to watch on television. They also tell each other that they don’t like each other. Primrose delivers sour remarks about whatever is on television, often growing angrier until she eventually shuts the television off, upsetting David.

Sometimes the kids settle down, with David braiding and unbraiding Primrose’s hair for hours. John learns more about them when they talk calmly. David tells Primrose about his best friend back in Minnesota, but she antagonizes him about the fact that they never call each other anymore. John suggests that David find a new best friend, but David shrugs him off.

Primrose also gives David a hard time for hating his own grandmother, and when David defends himself, John stays out of the conflict entirely. He already knows about David’s late mother and his living situation. One day, David fires back, asking Primrose why she hates her own mother, but Primrose pretends not to have a mother at all.

Primrose rarely talks about her mother, but she enjoys talking about her father often. She has recently started carrying around a smaller copy of his photo, and she often speculates about the wonderful things that her father might be doing. She says she recalls him saying goodbye to her as a baby, but David accuses her of lying. Primrose maintains that she was a smart enough baby to remember such a thing.

John cannot figure out the bond between this nine-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl. Most of the time, they squabble and antagonize each other, but they also seek one another out and take care of each other. John doesn’t take their fights seriously. He characterizes the children as throwing gentle stones that skim off the surface, but sometimes, the stones are too heavy and break through, creating deeper wounds.

John notices that David is more fixated on Primrose’s father lately. As the two watch television each night, David makes comments, suggesting that Primrose’s father might be an astronaut, a cowboy, or a game show host. Primrose doesn’t take his comments seriously, but even when she rejects his ideas, she’s always happy to talk about her father.

One night, David suggests that Primrose’s father is a clown, and she grows genuinely angry with him. The next night, they view a news story about the “Waving Man”—a scraggly man who waves at people at an intersection in the nearest city, Philadelphia. John has seen the Waving Man a few times during his trips to the city. Primrose speculates that the man is “nutso,” just like her mother. David says that maybe the Waving Man is Primrose’s father, and this comment puts her into a rage. She attacks David until John separates them. Then she screams that her father is “not a bum on the street” (85). David says he hates Primrose and her “crazy” mother. When Primrose replies that at least her mother is alive, David throws the remote at her, and John stops the fight. Casting around desperately for a change of topic, he tells them about giant worms called nightcrawlers.