Chapter 1 Summary

"'Next year at this time, I want carpenters working on our house,' Mama said," (p. 1).

The Erhardt family—Papa Willie, Mama Arlene and six-year-old Lark—sit down to a dinner of fried pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and Monarch brand canned peas. Papa proceeds to drag the tines of his fork through his daughter's mashed potatoes, into which Mama carefully pours a small well of gravy. He laughs and when Mama questions his behavior, he blames her for trying to pick a fight.

Mama revisits the house topic, stating that others in the neighborhood, who make less money than he, own their own homes. To this, Papa states that he does not care what others do. Lark does not understand why her father is not interested in owning a home. After all, he grew up in a nice home...