Shouting at the Rain

Delsie’s grandmother, Grammy, works as a housekeeper for guest cottages. Delsie is looking forward to seeing one of those guests: Brandy, who has been her friend since they were toddlers. Delsie and Brandy meet up, and Delsie notices that Brandy looks older; she is wearing makeup and holding a purse, making Delsie feel self-conscious. Delsie feels reassured when Brandy tells her that she has taken out their pails for rocks and shells, which they collect each summer to make sculptures out of. They check the cottages’ bushes for a small stone house they constructed for fairies when they were younger, but the house is not there. Delsie is upset, but Brandy dismisses its disappearance. Brandy then says that she wants to go to the beach to tan. Delsie feels that Brandy is changing.

They go to collect rocks and shells on Seagull Beach, having fun and then bringing back their spoils. Brandy asks Delsie if she thinks collecting and building sculptures is kind of “babyish.” Delsie says it isn’t if they like it and that they shouldn’t care about what other people think. Brandy agrees, but Delsie suspects that she is lying.

Brandy goes with her mother to a mani-pedi appointment. As Brandy waves goodbye to Delsie, Delsie feels a strange emptiness and wonders what would happen to her if anything happened to Grammy. Delsie goes for a run on the beach and sees a seal pup being watched over by a beach patrol officer. Tourists are taking pictures of the pup, but the officer tells everybody to stand back, as the pup is frightened. The officer explains that it is normal to find pups left on the beach, as mother seals will sometimes leave their pups on shore while they hunt to keep them safe from sharks. The officer warns people that if the mother seal sees people too close to the pup, she could abandon the pup; however, the mother seal always returns to her pup at some point. This saddens Delsie.

The mother seal returns, and the pup joins its mother in the water. Delsie starts to cry and reflects, “[W]hen people say you can’t miss something you’ve never known…Well, that simply isn’t true” (13).

Delsie returns home and asks Grammy about her mother. Grammy is shocked by Delsie’s sudden questions. Delsie also asks who her father was, including his name. Grammy says that Delsie’s mother, Mellie, never told her Delsie’s father’s name. Delsie demands to know why her mother left, but Grammy does not want to talk about her, saying that talking about the subject makes her feel “terrible inside.”

Grammy tries to change the subject, so Delsie goes to her bedroom alone and looks at a picture of her mother, which she says good night to every night. Thinking about the seal, Delsie throws the picture frame, shattering the glass. Delsie feels as broken as the fragments.

Olive Tinselly, Delsie’s grumpy neighbor, comes to the door of Delsie’s and Grammy’s house. Olive says that it is time to do something about Henry, another neighbor, who is struggling. His wife, Esme, is away caring for an ailing parent, and he has to take care of their daughter, Ruby, by himself while working. Olive is specifically upset about Henry having made a makeshift wind chime out of silver spoons and hanging it in a tree.

Henry comes out of his house with Ruby and greets Olive happily. Delsie reflects that it would be nice to have a father like Henry. He explains that he made the wind chime because Ruby misses her mother and says that the spoons chiming in the wind sound like her mother’s laughter. The conversation turns to Henry’s fishing, and Henry praises Delsie’s deceased grandfather, Papa Joseph, who left Henry his boat. Grammy ignores Olive’s concerns about the spoons and tries to convince Olive to bake something for Henry and Ruby with her. Delsie reflects that Grammy is a “bridge builder” and helps unite people.

The next day, Delsie meets Brandy at Seaside. When Delsie sees Brandy and her mother’s matching manicures and pedicures, she feels jealous. Brandy surprises Delsie with a pair of sunglasses, of which she has a matching pair. Delsie asks Brandy if she wants to build a sandcastle or go clamming, but Brandy declines, saying that she cannot mess up her manicure. Delsie is disturbed by this, as this has never bothered Brandy before. When Delsie suggests building a new fairy house, Brandy dismisses the idea as childish. Delsie then proposes running, revealing that she is training for a 5K in the fall that is fundraising for heart disease; she’s doing so in memory of Papa Joseph, who had a heart attack. Delsie remembers how Brandy comforted her at the funeral. Brandy suggests going swimming, but Delsie says that the clouds and the smell indicate an approaching storm. She is right, as it begins to rain shortly afterward. Delsie watches the lightning come in. Delsie sees a boy wearing all black standing at the water’s edge and yells to him that it’s dangerous to stand with his feet in the water during a lightning storm. The boy steps back but does not look at Delsie.

Grammy requests Delsie’s help cleaning one of the guesthouses, as the guests requested that the undersides of the furniture get cleaned. Because the furniture is too heavy for Grammy and Delsie, they call the maintenance man, Gusty Gale. His son accompanies him and turns out to be the boy in black that Delsie saw at the beach; his name is Ronan. Ronan is quiet and seems wary of Delsie’s outspokenness.

Delsie later finds Brandy at the beach playing cards with a girl named Tressa, whom Delsie does not know. When Delsie asks to play, Tressa argues against her joining, but Brandy lets her in. Brandy then invites Delsie to come on a whale-watching trip for her birthday that week. Tressa is unimpressed by the idea of whale watching and gets up to leave; Brandy follows as Delsie is about to say something. Delsie hears a “little voice” of warning.

The next day, Brandy and Tressa invite Delsie to come with them to a fancy ice cream parlor. Tressa judges Delsie for not wearing shoes, comparing Delsie to Tarzan. Delsie reminds Brandy of when she convinced her to not wear shoes and how she couldn’t walk on the hot pavement, and Brandy replies that she didn’t like it because she’s “normal.”

Delsie is not allowed into the parlor because she doesn’t have shoes. She watches Brandy and Tressa laughing through the window and then notices Ronan’s reflection. He’s still in his black jeans and long-sleeved black shirt and is drinking a milkshake. Delsie greets him, and Ronan asks why everybody on Cape Cod starts conversations with strangers. Delsie correctly guesses that he is not from the cape. Ronan tells Delsie that she and her friends remind him of hammerhead sharks, which “only swim in shallow waters” (38), and then walks away.

As soon as he leaves, Aimee and Michael arrive and greet Delsie. Brandy and Tressa return, and the group watches as the manager and Ronan argue after Ronan climbs onto the running board of the shop’s ice cream truck. Ronan announces that he’s leaving. Tressa judges Ronan for wearing long black clothing in the summer. Brandy reveals that she feels sorry for Ronan, but Tressa asserts that he isn’t “nice” and that he is always in trouble, saying he stole from a room that his father was working in. Delsie doubts Tressa’s claims. Delsie sees Ronan lingering in the parking lot with an angry body posture but a “sad” expression. Tressa tells Brandy that she should complain about him living at Seaside, and Delsie notices that Brandy is unusually quiet. Michael and Aimee leave, and as Delsie accompanies Brandy and Tressa to the beach, she keeps her eye on Ronan.

Delsie, Brandy, and Tressa go on the whale watch for Brandy’s birthday. Delsie is excited to give Brandy her gift but disappointed that Tressa is on the boat with them. The three girls witness the fluke of a whale as the whale dives beneath the waves. The scientist on board explains that every fluke is unique, like a human fingerprint, but Brandy and Tressa are not paying attention, instead watching videos on Tressa’s phone. The boat is surrounded by whales, and as Delsie runs around the deck looking at them, she realizes that Brandy and Tressa are laughing at Delsie and recording a video of her.

Delsie wishes that she could have watched the whales with the “old Brandy.” She reveals that she bought Brandy a clown figurine, as Brandy collects them. Brandy loves the gift, but Tressa immediately criticizes Delsie for buying Brandy a used present from an estate sale. Tressa bought Brandy a pair of new sunglasses, which Brandy says are “just what [she] need[s]” (45).

Delsie pretends to enjoy lying on the beach with Brandy and Tressa; she wishes that they were collecting rocks, running, or swimming. She falls asleep on her stomach but wakes to Ronan kicking her leg. Ronan informs her that Brandy and Tressa used sunblock to write “boring” on Delsie’s back in large letters. She leaves Brandy and Tressa and goes to the playhouse to see Aimee and Michael.

When she arrives at the playhouse, the cast is practicing the song “It’s a Hard-Knock Life.” Delsie reflects on the irony of the children singing this orphan’s song when they all have mothers.

Madam Schofield criticizes Michael for his “shallow” performance, telling him that she does not believe in his portrayal. Michael argues that he cannot relate to his character, who is cruel. Madam Schofield points out that everybody has the capacity for cruelty and that he needs to access the darker parts of himself to relate to the character.