Beverly, Right Here

The title reveals one of the story’s key themes. Beverly, Right Here indicates presence. Beverly is here: This is her story, and, literally, it’s her book in the Three Rancheros series.

What compels Beverly’s story is absence, and absence manifests in multiple ways. Death is an absence. After Buddy dies, Beverly skips town, telling Elmer, “I came here because I couldn’t stand it—that empty feeling” (170). Feelings constitute another absence. The material loss of her dog comes with intangible emotional loss. Something similar happens with Louisiana. When Raymie and Beverly discover she and her grandma suddenly disappeared, there’s the physical loss of her friend and the emotional, intangible, empty feeling.

There are multiple forms of absence, and there are multiple kinds of presence. While Beverly’s dog isn’t physically present, he remains present in her mind. She thinks about him constantly and dreams about him. Raymie (and, to an extent, Louisiana) also stays in her mind. People and animals can physically leave, but a person can make them present through memory.

Central to Beverly’s journey is accepting the back-and-forth relationship between presence and absence. Though she acts tough and willful, she’s thoughtful and sensitive. Before Iola (and Elmer), she forms meaningful relationships with Raymie, Louisiana, and Buddy.