The Little Friend

The police concluded Robin was probably murdered because he couldn’t have hanged himself like he was found, but they can’t figure out who did it. They conclude it was likely a visitor from out of town who promptly fled after killing Robin, explaining why they couldn’t find them. The family does not discuss the death, but they discuss Robin so much that Harriet and Allison feel like they know a lot about him, even though they can’t remember him. Now, Allison and Charlotte both sleep a lot. Allison earns poor grades and struggles to socialize, which Edie tries to fix but Charlotte doesn’t seem to mind. Dix now lives and works in Nashville; he and Charlotte are still married, and he sends money home but only visits sparingly. This is fine by Harriet because she doesn’t enjoy his company, and he is abusive. Charlotte still employs Ida Rhew and doesn’t do housework herself or have a job. Despite Ida’s work, the house’s disarray is still the subject of town gossip because Charlotte hoards garbage and old newspapers.

In contrast to Allison, Harriet is more argumentative and defiant, although she doesn’t struggle with her grades. She often starts disagreements with her aunts, especially when she points out flaws in their biblical reasoning. Edie attends church to socialize but doesn’t believe in Christianity. The rest of the aunts do believe and are upset by some of Harriet’s arguments, such as that the Bible does not distinguish between white lies and regular lies; it just says not to lie. The aunts like Allison because she is sweet, but Edie thinks she is disappointing. However, although Harriet resembles Edie, Edie doesn’t prefer Harriet either. Although Allison isn’t popular, other kids accept her. Harriet has few friends, most of whom are boys, and her best friend is named Hely. She used to dress the boys up and reenact The Last Supper, casting Hely as Judas and herself as Jesus.

Harriet’s family is fairly well-off, but they’re resentful because their ancestors were wealthier. After the stock market crash in 1929, Judge Cleve (Edie and the great-aunts’ father) lost most of his money, and after he died, Libby had to sell their old house, called Tribulation, to pay her dad’s debts off. The family had owned the house since 1809 when it was first built, and by the time they sold it, they’d neglected repairs for over a century. However, the family pretends Tribulation was not decaying and that it was a perfect, palace-like structure. The family also blames Northerners and Black people for their loss instead of Judge Cleve. Harriet can’t remember Tribulation because the house was sold when she was still a baby. It was turned into apartments afterward, then burned down. Robin used to play there, though, and Harriet imagines how wonderful this must have been. She has a strong desire to go back to the past, not forward to the future, and spends a lot of time looking at photographs of Robin and Tribulation.

After Robin died, funds were raised at church, and an elaborate stained-glass window featuring her was placed next to stained-glass windows with religious figures. Harriet sees this row of windows every week, so to her, Robin seems just as important, magical, mysterious, and inhuman as Jesus.

One summer morning, Harriet and Allison bring their sick cat, who had been Robin’s, to their grandmother Edie. Edie is good at healing animals and was also a nurse, but the cat is simply dying of old age and is no longer interested in eating. Edie takes the cat to the veterinarian, who confirms the cat should be euthanized to reduce his suffering. This is unacceptable to Allison, who is more attached to the cat than she is to any person. Harriet is also upset. Edie tells the girls that everything dies, and there’s no way around it, then takes the cat back to be put down despite Allison’s claims that she’ll never recover.

Later, Harriet’s friend Hely comes over, and they scheme about how to get out of going to a Christian summer camp that their parents sent them to the previous year. Both children hated it, so they’ve been throwing away mail from the camp and hoping their parents forget about it. Edie returns with the dead cat, and the children dig a hole to bury him in the backyard. The neighbor, Mrs. Fountain, notices the children and goes to investigate. She wants confirmation that the cat is dead because she hates it. Hely insults Mrs. Fountain, who threatens to call their parents.