Wednesday Afternoon
July 19, 1961
- Abby is sick in bed with pneumonia; Mother Barker tends to her using herbal remedies.
- By Friday, Abby's pneumonia clears. Her aunts figure she only got sick in the first place because of what Brother Jacobs did to her.
- While Abby is home alone one day, Trembling Sally lets herself into Abyssinia's room and starts accusing her of lying, insisting nothing is wrong with the child and that her sudden inability to talk, read, write, and sing is all a deception. She even blames Abby for "letting" Brother Jacobs rape her. Yikes.
- Trembling Sally wants to punish Abby, and as she lurks around her room ranting and raving, Abby thinks about the fact that her mom will be home soon.
- As Abby looks out the window for Patience, she notices a wasp. Abby, it seems, is afraid of wasps, a fact Sally picks up on and taunts the girl with.
- The wasp flies away, and then Sally leaves, too.