Summary

The Legionnaire then offers Heidi the chance to choose which amendment she will speak about spontaneously. Heidi comments to the audience that she loved this part of the contest, saying that her father used to coach her for these sections of the contest and that their time together was a chance to connect with her dad in a way that helped them both “to pretend I wasn’t becoming a woman” (20).

Heidi draws Amendment 14, which The Legionnaire says is long and complicated. This, he adds, means that Heidi will be asked to only address Section 1, which Heidi recites from memory “as if reenacting her long-ago practice sessions with her father” (20). The Legionnaire reminds her to speak on all four clauses in the section, and to make comments referencing how each one has affected her life. He begins her time, and Heidi speaks as quickly...