Dreamland

Panicked, Beverly hides, watching a man on her porch, who goes to the barn to inspect it, leaving Beverly relieved that she let it be. She quietly prays that Tommie’s bus will be late. After a few moments, the man leaves, and Beverly rushes into the house, retrieves the guns and ammunition, then rushes back to the creek to bury them in the hole she dug earlier, using her hands to work faster, resolved to leave the house as soon as possible.

Back in the kitchen, she tries in vain to scrub her hands clean, but the dirt has stained them brown. She greets Tommie at the bus, noticing that he waves goodbye to someone as he climbs down. She is overjoyed that he has made a friend. Her awareness that she must run again recedes as a wave of exhaustion rolls in. Her desire to rest battles her fear of the man in the pickup truck returning. Back at the house, Tommie notices the disorder in the living room, and Beverly realizes she should have warned him. She puts on cartoons and lies down on the couch for “a quick nap” then falls into a deep sleep (233).