When You Reach Me

The boys who hang out on the street along Miranda’s walk home begin trying to get her attention with calls like “sweet” and “baby” when she passes. Her mother explains that “this happens to girls after a certain age” (64) and instructs Miranda not to give them any attention. Miranda is relieved when the boys are not around when Annemarie joins her for the walk home. She isn’t lucky enough to avoid an encounter with the laughing man, though, as he points directly at Annemarie and calls her an angel.

Once inside her apartment with Annemarie, Miranda sees her home through new eyes. She notices the rips on the couch, burns from cigarettes, flaking paint, and water stains that she usually ignores. Annemarie is kind and compliments Miranda’s room, and Miranda and her mother walk Annemarie home safely in the evening. Annemarie’s father welcomes Miranda’s mother and offers them a snack. Miranda is silently critical of her mother’s appearance when she laughs and coughs up powdered sugar.

Miranda mentions that she hasn’t “put one foot inside Jimmy’s place since December” (67), but doesn’t offer an explanation. Instead, she explains how she discovers the second note in a bag of bread while working at Jimmy’s shop. Unlike the first note, the second one addresses Miranda directly by name. The note also explains that the story Miranda is to tell in her own letter hasn't happened yet, at least most of it hasn’t, so she cannot begin writing it yet. The mystery writer urges Miranda not to wait too long to write once the time comes, however, so he can include details before her memory fades. The note ends asking Miranda not to share any more notes with other people. Miranda doesn’t understand the note and is terrified.

While Jimmy is outside talking to a delivery driver, Colin urges Miranda and Annemarie to join him in finding what Jimmy keeps in his Fred Flintstone bank. Colin opens the bank to discover that it’s full of two-dollar bills folded into little triangles. The kids replace the bank without removing any of the bills and get to the front counter just as Jimmy returns. On the way back to school after working the lunch period, Colin playfully bounces between Miranda and Annemarie.

Miranda, her mother, and Richard practice more as the game show’s date gets closer. Miranda’s mother has a focusing technique she refers to as pushing away or lifting her veil. Miranda’s mother explains that “each of us has a veil between ourselves and the rest of the world” and that only when the veil is lifted can we “see the world as it really is” (71). Miranda’s mother lifts her metaphorical veil when she needs to focus, “enough to see more than usual but not so much that she gets totally distracted by life, death, and the beauty of it all” (72). Opening her mind in this way lets her see connections that join the verbal clues in the game. Miranda wonders if perhaps some people aren’t born with veils at all, and considers whether the person sending notes to her might be one of them.

Colin and Annemarie continue working together at the sandwich counter while Miranda counts bread rolls, which she doesn’t mind too much since counting bread means she can avoid weighing slimy lunch meat. When Julia walks down the street outside, Miranda refers to her as “Swiss Miss” for the matching knapsacks and headbands Julia brings back from Switzerland. Jimmy smiles at the nickname and compliments Miranda for being funny, which Miranda shrugs off but is happy to hear from someone so hard to please.

Ever since touching foreheads while looking into Jimmy’s bank, Miranda confesses that “looking at Colin made me feel strange. But good-strange, not creepy-strange” (74). Miranda notices that Annemarie looks at Colin with a funny expression, too, and wonders if they feel the same way.

Julia confronts Annemarie at school to ask why she bothers working during lunch period when she doesn’t need the money. Julia makes a comment that Annemarie isn’t supposed to be eating sandwiches and sodas, and Miranda tries to reassure Annemarie that she’s better off without a friend like Julia. When they settle into class, Julia shoots a rubber band at Miranda’s head, prompting Miranda to silently declare war.

Miranda makes another trip to the school office, this time to pick up materials for the classroom’s Main Street project. She passes Marcus in the hall, but he walks right past her to the school dentist’s office. Miranda continues back to her classroom and hands out the copies from the office, being sure to give Julia a slightly crumpled one.

Jimmy tasks Miranda with going to the nearby hardware store to buy lightbulbs. He tells Miranda to ask for a two-dollar bill as part of her change. Miranda doesn’t confess that she’s seen Jimmy’s collection of two-dollar bills in the Fred Flintstone bank. On her way out, she notices that Annemarie seems especially happy working next to Colin, and that she might even be wearing makeup.

When she returns to the sandwich shop, Miranda finds Julia in the shop talking to Annemarie. Jimmy interrupts the girls and demands that Julia leave, despite Julia insisting that she has money to buy a sandwich. Miranda walks back to school after her work shift feeling that “Jimmy could be a grouch, but he saw right through Julia, just like I did” (83).

There is no school on the Friday following Thanksgiving, but Miranda’s mother still has to go to work, so Miranda spends the morning at home alone thinking through the strange notes she’s received. She’s particularly worried about the parts of the notes that mention “I’m coming to save your friend’s life” and “I won’t be myself when I reach you” (84).

Miranda’s mother is in a frustrated mood after a lousy day at work. Richard tries to lighten the mood and the evening falls into a quiet routine with Miranda getting started on her math homework. When Richard can’t find his extra pair of work shoes, Miranda’s mother realizes they were robbed after all.