Savvy

Mibs tells Will she must get to Salina. Will suggests that his mother might drive her, but Mibs knows that won’t work. She walks from the church. Most of the kids are inside; some are already eating cake. Mibs heads toward the road, willing to hitchhike if she must. Will follows.

In the parking lot, Bobbi leans against the Bible delivery truck—it’s a converted school bus painted pink—and snaps her gum. She looks lonely. Mibs again hears the singsong whispering from Bobbi’s tattoo. Printed on the side of the truck is its home address in Salina. Mouthing “thank you” to heaven, Mibs boards the bus.

Bobbi demands to know what Mibs is up to; the tattoo, though, tells Mibs that Bobbi is concerned for her. Will tells Bobbi to “get frittered” and threatens to tell her folks about her secret way of getting out of school by calling the school office and faking their mom’s voice. Bobbi says she doesn’t care, but the tattoo tells Mibs that she really does.

Will climbs aboard. Defiantly, he tells Bobbi their destination and that he’s coming with to keep Mibs safe. In a chorus, the two girls tell him, “You’re not going to Salina” (68).