TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Scout and Walter get into a fight.
Jem stops the fight. He invites Walter home for lunch. At home, Walter covers his food with syrup. “What are you doing?” Scout laughs at Walter. Calpurnia calls Scout into the kitchen to talk to her.
Calpurnia helps Atticus take care of his family. She scolds Scout for being rude to Walter. “Not everybody eats like you eat. If you can’t be nice, you have to eat in the kitchen.”
Scout is upset with Calpurnia for scolding her. She understands what Calpurnia means. And she feels bad for laughing, but she’s still mad at Calpurnia. “Dad, Calpurnia made me mad. Fire her,” Scout pouts. “I’m not firing Calpurnia. She’s part of the family. And she’s right. You shouldn’t laugh at people like that.”
After lunch, Scout goes back to school. But she doesn't feel happy. She is still upset about the fight. Plus, she’s still mad at Miss Caroline. Miss Caroline isn’t happy either. She’s freaked out. One of her students has lice. It’s Burris Ewell. Burris is a very dirty boy. His head is crawling with lice.
“You need to go home,” Miss Caroline says. “You can come back when it's gone.” “Why?” asks Burris. “Because you have… um… cooties! You don’t want to give the cooties to the other students, do you?” “You can’t tell me what to do!” Burris says. “No slut of a school teacher can make me do anything. I was leaving anyway. I did my time.” He walks out of the class.
Miss Caroline cries. The children comfort her. “He’s a Ewell. They only come on the first day,” one boy says. “They are the disgrace of the town. They always have been,” adds another. At home Scout tells her dad about Burris. “Do you know why he can’t buy food? Because he spends his money on whiskey,” Scout says. “Let’s keep that between us. Miss Caroline doesn’t have to know everything about this town,” Atticus says.
