Heartsick
- Fun fact: Part 6 is set in the spring of 1935, dear Shmoopsters.
- Okay guys, it's finally happened—Billie Jo just admitted that she likes Mad Dog. Not that we're stunned by this or anything, but it definitely shows that she's growing more honest with herself, and by extension, with us.
- Here's the problem though: girls who have crushes on guys need moms to vent to. In the absence of Ma, Billie Jo's moping around the house, shutting herself in her room and such, but doesn't tell her father anything. She says that if Ma were around, she would come in Billie Jo's room, have a talk about it, and then reassure her father that everything was all right.
- Communication is still a tricky issue between Billie Jo and her dad. Even in their mutual loss of Ma, they have never been able to comfort each other or even talk. Billie Jo says that she has never really known how to talk to him.