Mockingbird Summer

Corky and Mack find Papa Cal bitten by a rattlesnake and quickly take him to the hospital. Corky feels guilty about Papa Cal and worried about today’s practice. Belle tells her that Evangeline said America is not going to play.

Corky sees Evangeline and America crossing the tracks and decides to follow them to the Southside with Roy Rogers at her heels. America hears Roy’s bark and tells her mother she’s going for a run. Corky apologizes for giving America the book. America says that meeting Corky’s family made her think more deeply about her own family. As America leads Corky back to the Northside, she says she likes Corky but they cannot be friends. Corky says if it is about race it is “stupid” because “[i]t’s just skin” (175). She urges America pursue her gift for running, but America doesn’t see the point. She wonders how Olympic athletes survive financially—something that has never occurred to Corky. Corky asks America how it feels to run fast, and America tells her it’s like having “wings on [her] feet” (177) and makes America feel a kind of “Almighty glory.” Corky wishes she could be like her, but America recognizes the ways Corky’s immaturity and privilege keep her from understanding America’s experience.