Big Ma also forces the girls to apologize to several white girls who tease Fern about wetting herself. The girls’ mother criticizes Big Ma for the poor behavior of Delphine and her sisters. Once in the car, Big Ma strikes Delphine on the face because the white girls’ mother informed her of her granddaughters’ behavior. Delphine feels oppressed and humiliated by the blow, which catches everyone’s attention. During the summer in Oakland, Delphine learned about the need for Black pride and the importance of standing up for oneself in the face of oppression. As a result, Delphine sees Big Ma as a traitor to her race because she subordinates herself to white people like the white girls and their mother.

On the way home, the girls argue with each other and tell the story of the spectacle they made of themselves at the airport. Big Ma tells Pa (Louis Gaither) that their behavior is the result of Cecile’s influence and that the girls will be subject to anti-Black violence if they continue misbehaving in front of white people. Pa tries to reason with Big Ma, but she won’t accept his efforts. Delphine tries to quiet her sisters, dreading the punishment that she knows she and her sisters will receive when they get home. Delphine notices that her father is well dressed and is even wearing cologne, something he never did in the past. He has changed in their absence and now seems happier as he hums along to the popular Temptations song “My Girl.”

The Gaither family drives home to their Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. On the way home, Delphine notices burned-out lots and ramshackle buildings much like her own house, which her father and uncle built with their own hands. During the ride, Delphine worries about the changes in her father and dreads the sixth-grade dance that will happen this year at school. She fears that no one will ask her out because she is so much taller than her peers. As the family drives through her neighborhood, she feels a welcome sense of familiarity. Pa convinces Big Ma not to punish the girls on their first night home.

The girls decide to let Cecile know that they have arrived safely. They will send her their Oakland souvenir—a postcard. They argue over what to put on the card, including how to address their mother, who could be called either “Mom,” “Sister Nzila,” or “Cecile,” but they settle on “Cecile” after Delphine takes charge as she usually does. Delphine now feels pressure to deal with her sisters’ assertive personalities, which date from their summer in Oakland. Fern and Vonetta argue all the time, and it is left to Delphine to stand between them and settle matters.

Vonetta and Fern argue over who will put the postcard in the mailbox, ignoring Delphine’s decision to give the job to Vonetta. Delphine realizes that she is losing control of her younger sisters. Pa goes out on a date with Marva Hendrix, his girlfriend, instead of eating dinner with them. Vonetta and Fern tease and make light of their father’s new love life, but Delphine feels a sense of worry about all the changes. They also worry about Darnell, their young uncle, who is fighting in the Vietnam War.

The girls receive a hand-lettered card from Cecile. It is a brief thank you for the postcard that they sent to her. Delphine decides to write back, but the girls tease her about really wanting to write to Hirohito Woods, a boy she liked in Oakland. Delphine is uncomfortable when Big Ma calls Hirohito a disrespectful term upon discovering that he is both Black and Japanese American. Big Ma generally dislikes names that are from Africa or other regions of the world.

Delphine knows that Big Ma’s comments about Hirohito and her views on names are wrong, but there is no correcting Big Ma because she holds all the power over the girls. This is a shock after all the talk of rights among the Black Panthers in Oakland. Delphine writes back to Cecile to tell her that Pa has a girlfriend. She asks if Cecile still loves their father. Cecile replies that her feelings about Pa are none of Delphine’s business. She signs off by writing, “P.S. Be eleven” (46), her often-repeated reminder that Delphine should be a girl while she can and leave adult concerns to the adults.

Marva visits the family. During the visit, Pa announces that he and Marva are getting married. Big Ma and Delphine are disapproving but polite in their congratulations, but Vonetta and Fern are excited by the idea of the perfect wedding. Privately, Delphine is overwhelmed by the thought of her mother being replaced by the stylish Ms. Hendrix. She tells her sisters that Marva and Pa are “too old to have a fairy-tale wedding” (53).

The Gaither girls and Cecile begin writing to each other more regularly. In her letter, Vonetta tells Cecile that she is excited about her father’s upcoming marriage. Fern sends her mother a poem. She addresses the letter to “Nzila” and signs off as “Afua,” the African name that Cecile gave Fern when she was born. Delphine is embarrassed by the contents of her sisters’ letters. In a letter to Delphine, Cecile encourages Delphine to find her own passion like her sisters and once again advises her to be content to be 11.

Big Ma takes Delphine on her annual shopping trip for school clothes. Big Ma believes that Delphine should dress more conservatively, stressing that pants are for men and workers. Delphine finds the wool skirts that her grandmother chooses to be babyish. Delphine wants more “mod” (modern and stylish) clothes like Ms. Honeywell, the sixth-grade teacher who was sent home because she was wearing a hot pink, bell-bottomed pantsuit. While at the store, Delphine encounters Lucy Raleigh, her frenemy. Big Ma doesn’t like Lucy because she thinks the girl is too pushy and loud. Lucy uses this pushiness to get Big Ma to buy a mod jumper for Delphine. Lucy tells Delphine that she has to watch a music program called The Hollywood Palace that night or else she won’t be one of the cool kids.