Walter Cunningham's First Day of School (to Kill a Mockingbird)

Today was the first day of school. I was feelin' pretty good 'bout it 'cause this year I might be able to stay the full year. I usually hafta leave in the spring an' help Papa with the choppin' but now there's another'n at the house that's field size. When I got there, I took a seat in 'bout the middle of the classroom. Since I was startin' grade one ag'in I was reck'nizin some f'miliar faces and some new ones. Our teacher's name is Miss Caroline. She's nice and real purty too. But today I noticed she was doin' somethin' d'ffrent. She was teachin' us the alph'bet but most of us 'ready now how. Maybe it's 'cause she's from Winston County. Then it was time for lunch. I didn't have a lunch like always so I just sat quietly at my desk. Miss Caroline noticed and she tried to give me a quarter for lunch downtown. I refused though 'cause I couldn't take it if I couldn't pay it back. She didn't listen to my refusal and kept tryin' to get me to take the quarter. Then some girl told her 'bout my family's money sit'uation. Miss Caroline didn't like that and hit her wif a ruler. It was an odd thing of her to do. After that, I went out to the schoolyard to get me some fresh air when that girl who got whipped threw me to the ground an' started beatin' me. I hadn't a clue what I was to do 'cause I can't hit a girl. So I jus' took the beatin'. Then some boy came an' pulled her offa me. The way they were conversin' seemed to me like they were siblins. The boy told me that my daddy is a friend of their daddy's and invited me to have lunch at their place. At first I didn't really wanna go 'cause I was 'fraid I'd get beatin' ag'in, but I decided to go with the end. I reckon my stomach made that 'cision for me. As we were walkin' I was talkin to the boy, Jem. He was tellin' me 'bout the hain't who lives at the ol' Radley place 'till we reached the front steps of the house. Inside they set a plate for me and lunch had began. I had never seen so much food in my life! As I started pilin' the food onta my plate, I began a conversation with Jem's dad Mr. Atticus Finch 'bout crops an' farmin'. What I liked is that Mr. Finch spoke to me jus' like I was a fellow grown-up. That's real honourable of him. Before I started eatin', I had to make the taste o' the rotten food go away, so I asked for some molasses. Once I got it I started pourin' it all over my food, when the girl, Scout, asked what the Sam Hill I was doin'. I was su'prised she even hadta ask! Ev'ryone knows that when food's all rotten you hafta get the bad taste out with molasses. But I didn't see any o' them Finches doin' that to their food. Huh,