“Too much grandmother, I suppose,”

answered Mrs. Quimby. “Or maybe it’s

easier for them to ignore her behavior.”

“Come on, let’s all pitch in and clean up

this place,” said Mr. Quimby. “Ramona, you

find a bag and pick up all the Kleenex.”

“Kleenex is made of trees,” said Beezus,

already helping her mother collect coffee

mugs from the living room. “We shouldn’t

waste it.” Lately Beezus had become a friend of trees.

“Put the bag of Kleenex in the cupboard

in the bathroom,” said Mrs. Quimby, “and

let’s all remember to use it.”

I never was as awful as Willa Jean, Ramona

told herself as she went to work collecting

two hundred and fifty pieces of scattered

pink Kleenex. I just know I wasn’t. She fol-

lowed the trail of Kleenex back to her bed-

room, and when the two hundred and fiftieth

24

piece was stuffed in the bag, she leaned against her dresser to study herself in the

mirror.

How come nobody ever calls me my

mother’s girl? Ramona thought. How come

Mother never says she couldn’t get along

without me?

25

2

Slacks for Ella Funt

The day Ramona’s father went to work

at the checkout counter of the

ShopRite Market, life in the Quimby

household changed. Sometimes Mr. Quimby

worked all day; sometimes he worked after-

noons and evenings. Sometimes he took the

car to work while Mrs. Quimby took

the bus to her job in Dr. Hobson’s office.

Sometimes she drove the car while he took

26

the bus, or one would drop the other off at work.

Life was different for Ramona, too. She

now went home with Howie Kemp after

school. The Quimbys paid Howie’s grand-

mother to look after Ramona until one of

her parents could come for her after work.

Mrs. Quimby said she could not hold a job

unless she knew where Ramona was. Every

single minute. Beezus also went to the Kemps’

house after school unless she telephoned her mother for permission to go to a friend’s

house. Ramona had no choice.

One rainy Saturday morning, when Mr.

Quimby had worked at the market for

several weeks, Ramona asked her mother,

“Where do you have to go today?” Mr.

Quimby always worked Saturday, the busiest

day at the market, which meant Mrs. Quimby

had the use of the car to run errands. Ramona was concerned about her mother’s errands

27

because she always had to go with her, or as she thought of it, be dragged along. Most of them were of no interest to her.

Mrs. Quimby thought a moment before

she said in surprise,“Well, what do you know?

No place.We have groceries in the cupboard.

No one needs to go shopping for shoes. No

one needs a present to take to a birthday

party. I can stay home.”

“Then what are you going to do?” asked

Ramona. She hoped her mother would not

decide to clean house.