The Man Who Loved Clowns

It’s Saturday morning, and Punky can’t wait to get to the athletic field. Aunt Queenie asks if Delrita will accompany them to the practice session. Delrita would prefer to stay home and work on her wood carving of Herkimer, but they convince her to go. Delrita watches Punky play basketball, and everyone cheers for him. She’s glad to see him excelling and happy that everyone there is so supportive of each other.

Delrita talks to one of Punky’s friends, Frankie, who shares that Punky gave him one of the clown carvings Delrita made. Tree approaches and is very impressed by her carving skills. Tree puts his arm around Delrita and tells her that Avanelle won’t stay mad at her for long. He also says that Avanelle accused Tree of defending Avanelle because he likes her, which makes Delrita blush.

That evening, Delrita decides that when she finishes carving Herkimer, she will give it to Avanelle. Aunt Queenie walks in on Delrita carving in the bathroom, and she compliments Delrita’s skills. She says that Delrita should carve in the living room instead of hiding in the bathroom. 

Delrita is surprised that her aunt would risk getting wood shavings on the floor, but the kindness of the gesture brings Delrita to tears. Aunt Queenie compares Delrita’s carving of the swan to Punky. She says, “[I]t took a special touch for them to spread their wings and fly” (177). Delrita is proud of herself.

The next morning, the unfinished carving is missing. Delrita learns that Punky took the figurine to give to his friend.

When Delrita walks into school one morning, Tree asks if she wants to go to the sock hop with him on Friday. She’s speechless at first but eventually agrees. Delrita decides that she must try to make amends with Avanelle. She tries to explain to her that the letter slipped out of their book by accident, but Avanelle’s attitude doesn’t change.

Delrita thinks about Tree all week. Uncle Bert gives her dancing lessons, and Aunt Queenie takes her to buy a new outfit. On Friday, Queenie does Delrita’s makeup, and Delrita waits eagerly for Tree to pick her up. He never comes, and Delrita goes to her room to cry. Eventually, Tree’s friend calls to say that Tree can’t make it because he’s babysitting. Delrita is devastated, convinced Tree was playing a prank by asking her to go with him.

The next morning, Aunt Queenie tries to convince Delrita to go to the athletic fields again, but she refuses. She does agree to meet them at McDonald’s later on, as Ronald McDonald is putting on a magic show, which Delrita knows will please Punky.

Queenie, Burt, and Punky stop to pick up Delrita on the way to McDonald’s. When they arrive, they see Pete, another one of Punky’s friends from the workshop, taking customer orders. Delrita is astonished to see that Pete can do the job just as well as everyone else. 

During the magic show, Punky laughs louder than everyone else, but no one stares at him or even notices. Delrita sees Tree there with his siblings. He’s talking to Cindi Martin, a popular girl at school. Delrita quickly concludes that he ditched her to take Cindi to the sock hop. 

Tree approaches Delrita and apologizes, but she responds angrily. She yells at him and runs outside. There, she sees her aunt and uncle talking to the preacher from church, who happily informs Delrita that Mrs. Shackleford went into labor very quickly the night before and gave birth. 

Delrita realizes that Tree really did have to babysit and immediately feels ashamed. She feels that after hurting both Avanelle and Tree, she doesn’t deserve to have any friends. She thinks she deserves to be invisible again.

Delrita skips church on Sunday, telling Aunt Queenie that she messed things up with Tree. Aunt Queenie replies playfully that Delrita recently spoke to her with anger, too, and now Aunt Queenie is “[t]rying hard to be a bit of a slob” (196). At school, Tree approaches Delrita, asking why she ran off the other day. She is so ashamed and guilty that when he asks her how they will proceed, Delrita responds that they can’t be friends anymore. She is afraid of hurting him further. Avanelle invites Delrita to see the new baby, but Delrita declines because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone else.

A few weeks later, Aunt Queenie comes to school to pick up Delrita unexpectedly. She explains that Punky is very sick and may not survive. They rush to the hospital and spend the night there. The next day, the doctor tries to move Punky out of the Intensive Care Unit to a different room in the hospital. Aunt Queenie insists that Punky come home with them, saying that they will administer oxygen and medication themselves. The doctor says Punky’s heart is extremely weak, and he will die soon.

Aunt Queenie quickly sets up a hospital room in the living room. It is almost Christmas time, so the house is decorated for Christmas—Punky’s favorite holiday. The living room has a Christmas tree along with a hospital bed and an oxygen tank. 

Aunt Queenie and Uncle Bert take turns sleeping in the living room so that Punky always has company. Delrita admits that not even her mom could have been as attentive. She begins to think of her aunt and uncle’s house as home. Delrita tries to finish a carving of Ronald McDonald for Punky for Christmas, but she knows that he might not live long enough to see it.

One night, Queenie arranges a visit from Boss and someone else from the workshop dressed up as Santa Claus. Everyone except Punky cries as he opens his gifts. Punky is thrilled. Later, he points across the room to nothing, exclaiming that Sam and Shirley (Delrita’s parents) are home. He dies that night.

Delrita cries and feels utterly empty. She is glad that Punky is with her parents now, but she will greatly miss him. She begs Aunt Queenie to have a private funeral for Punky with no one but family invited, but Queenie isn’t sure if it’s for the best.

Delrita brings her carving of Ronald McDonald to the funeral. A huge line of people arrives: The Shacklefords, the preacher, Punky’s friends from the workshop, people from church, and even people Delrita doesn’t recognize come to the funeral. Delrita realizes that Punky had many more friends than she ever realized. She gives the Ronald McDonald figurine to Rudy, Punky’s friend from the workshop. Avanelle, Tree, and Delrita all hug, and Delrita decides that from this point forward, she will stop hiding from people. Punky taught her the value of being herself.