The Last House on the Street

Before taking Rainie to preschool, Kayla pulls her trash can to the end of the driveway. As she is backing out, she sees that someone has dumped the trash can over and intentionally spread trash across the yard. When she comes back from preschool, she starts to pick the trash up and sees a note on the can that says, “your woods are a source of evil that touches all our lives” (191). Kayla calls the police. A Black officer, Samantha Johns, responds. Kayla spills out her story and Johns is sympathetic. She gives Kayla her card and instructs her to call whenever she needs her.

Greg moves Ellie to a new residence with a woman named Georgia, who has two children. The little girl, DeeDee, reminds Ellie very much of her childhood playmate and daughter of her maid, Mattie. They make a bed for Ellie inside DeeDee’s closet and put dowels in the bedroom window so that no one can get in.

On Thursday evening, the volunteers gather at the school to make protest signs for Friday’s rally. Ellie is surprised when her father shows up and asks to speak with her. He tells her that she must come home immediately. They have a brief discussion in which she tries to explain the importance of her work and her father continues to insist that she come home. Ultimately, he says that if she does not come home now, she will not be welcome there again. Ellie responds, “[t]ell Mama I love her […] and I love you too” (201). Ellie walks away from her father, who leaves without her.

Following her father’s visit, Ellie has a conversation with Georgia about Georgia’s civil rights work. Georgia tells her that the work she is doing requires her to continually weigh what it costs her against the benefit of what she will accomplish.

That evening at the protest, random white counter-protesters throw objects at the marchers. A rock, apparently meant for Ellie, hits DeeDee in the face, causing a serious cut. Ellie goes with her family as they take her immediately to the hospital for treatment.

When a caller distracts Kayla with a conversation about her window treatments, Kayla loses sight of Rainie, who is standing outside on the deck, holding a toy. When Kayla goes outside, Rainie is not there. Panicked, Kayla quickly realizes that Rainie is missing.

After DeeDee receives stitches at the hospital, Ellie prepares to go to sleep. Win comes to the front door and asks her to come outside and sit on the porch. He asks why she is doing this work. She tells him something that she has never told anyone, about her complicity in the tragic death of Mattie, her Black playmate who had a developmental disability. When Ellie gave in to the request of two popular girls to accompany them away from the frozen lake behind her house, her abandoned Black playmate, Mattie, skated too close to the thin ice. Win understands what she has gone through and tells her that she is doing good, productive work. They come close to confessing their affection for one another, but each says that they can only be friends because the work they are doing is too important to allow romantic distractions. That night, Ellie walks down the road to the house where Win stays and sits outside his window with her back against the wall.

Quickly, Officer Johns arrives along with Reed, who searches through the house for Rainie. Ellie runs down the street with Brenda behind her. They break into three different groups to search for Rainie. Kayla receives a phone call from the window treatment people and realizes that the first call was a distraction so that someone could kidnap Rainie. They find Rainie in the treehouse and learn that the woman with long red hair and mirrored glasses took her up there and left her.

Asked to relocate, Ellie takes her possessions to the school. That night there is a meeting of SCOPE volunteers after which Curry, the Black driver, asks the white kids if they would like to have some fun. They all pile into his van and drive to a Black nightclub. When she walks in, men immediately begin to ask Ellie if she wants to dance. Win warns them off. As the evening progresses and Ellie has something to drink, she goes out onto the dance floor with Win. They share several fast dances before a slow dance. Win takes Ellie in his arms. They dance closely together. Just as Win says that they should go out of the club, Ellie sees Rosemary watching her. Win leads Ellie to the van, where they kiss. Win does not give in to his emotions. He says that it is wrong for them to be romantic. The police show up and go into the club looking for the SCOPE workers. Ellie tells Win to run away. She is arrested with the others and taken to jail.

As a favor to Ellie, Kayla takes her mother to a doctor’s appointment. They have a lengthy conversation about Pat’s relationship with Ellie, which is not good. Pat blames Ellie for bringing misery to her family through her involvement with SCOPE. She blames Ellie for her father, Danny, dying by suicide. She also blames Ellie for not coming home from California after her father’s death. Asked if she loves Ellie, Pat replies that she loves Brenda, who has become her de facto daughter.

Once Kayla drops Pat off, she has a conversation with Brenda, who asks what they talked about. Brenda informs Kayla that she believes that the Klan murdered people in the woods and that many people think Mattie’s ghost haunts her property.

Ellie and Jocelyn are locked up in one cell. Ellie’s recent experiences with the bad accommodations have steeled her against the conditions in the jail. They worry that the boys might get beaten by the police. Jocelyn tells Ellie that it is obvious she is in love with Win. They decide to start singing freedom songs and other prisoners join in.

The intimidations of Kayla continue when she finds a number of dead squirrels tossed into a tree in her front yard. Enlisting the help of her father and Officer Johns, they try to determine who is doing this and why. Kayla learns that, when the house was under construction, the crew had problems with people stealing their equipment. Officer Johns observes, “I’d say someone’s trying to scare you, not hurt you […] but you might want to get that big dog, for your own peace of mind” (246).

After Ellie and Jocelyn get out of jail, Greg takes Ellie aside and tells her that he knows about her feelings for Win. Greg is tempted to send her to another SCOPE site. Ellie pleads to stay in Derby County. She begins to canvas each day with Rosemary and goes a week without seeing Win at all. On Friday before the weekly protest, she rides with Win and others to the courthouse. They have time alone in the van and express their affection for one another.

When the protest begins, there is a large group of people with a good spirit among them. Ellie is surprised when her brother shows up, quite inebriated. Buddy confronts Ellie about the harm that she is doing to their family. He says that she was seen at the Black club dancing with a Black man. Buddy asks those in the crowd which one of them is Win. He calls out the name, and when Win answers, he beats him savagely and runs away. Because Win is so badly beaten, Ellie thinks that he will be taken to the hospital. Instead, he is taken to the school, which Greg says is safer. Greg says that this latest incident means that Ellie can no longer stay with the local SCOPE group. She agrees to leave.

Curry drops Ellie off at her home. Her father hugs her and welcomes her. Her mother orders her around in disgust. Buddy tells her that he prayed she would come home for good, saying, “[t]hat, and that I didn’t kill that boy. I hate him, but I don’t want to kill nobody” (262).

Reed comes by the pharmacy where Ellie is working to see her and they discuss the situation. Reed wants to know if Ellie is in love with Win. When she doesn’t answer, he knows that she is. Though Reed loves her, he knows that their relationship is over. After several attempts, Ellie finally speaks to Brenda on the phone and her oldest friend completely rejects her. Brenda and Garner fear that having Ellie for a friend will completely ruin their reputation and they decide to have nothing to do with her.