Part Three: Chapters 58 - 61 Summary

LaVaughn comes home from school one day to hear her mother and Lester fighting about money. Lester is "being harassed" for not paying his bills and makes the terrible mistake of asking LaVaughn's mother for a loan from LaVaughn's college fund. Her mother gives him three minutes to collect his belongings and get out of the house. Her mother spends the next three days ironing. Trying to put her energy somewhere positive, LaVaughn decides to bake some cookies for Jody one afternoon when he's home sick from school. She has the plan of backing the cookies, using her key to drop them off in the bedroom - the same place where she dropped off the dance photo - blow Jody a kiss, and sneak silently back to her room. It doesn't go as planned. LaVaughn quietly opens...