Shouting at the Rain

Esme invites Delsie to lunch at a restaurant called the Optimist Café while Grammy watches Ruby. Esme asks how Delsie is, and Delsie realizes that Grammy arranged for Esme to talk to Delsie. The café’s paintings show positive spins on popular children’s stories. Esme tells Delsie about how elephant families keep watch over each other, and Delsie realizes that Esme is trying to tell Delsie that she loves her. Delsie asks Esme if she and Henry would take care of her if something happened to Grammy, and Esme enthusiastically affirms that they would.

Ronan arrives suddenly and joins them. Esme asks Ronan when he moved to Cape Cod, and Ronan reveals that he is living alone with his father. His mother died not long ago, and this is his first time living with his father. He describes them as being “like two great white sharks just circling each other” (124). Esme is worried about Ronan, asking if he has spoken to anybody about his mother’s death. He responds that he has not. Delsie realizes that she has been pitying herself, not knowing that Ronan has been suffering.

Delsie runs into Brandy’s mother, Mrs. Fiester. Mrs. Fiester tells Delsie that Brandy has missed her and says Delsie should go see her on the beach. Delsie wonders if Brandy said that she misses Delsie or if Mrs. Fiester is just “doing the mom thing” (126). Nevertheless, she goes to the beach, where she finds Brandy and Tressa. Tressa mockingly asks Delsie why she is there. Delsie sees a girl beside her being buried in sand by her friends, despite having changed her mind about it. Delsie tells Tressa that she lives in Cape Cod and defends Grammy from Tressa’s snobbishness, telling her that Grammy is a good person while Tressa is not. After calling Brandy “disappointing,” Delsie walks over to the girl being buried and tells her that she can choose to climb out. Delsie reflects that “it feels really good to step away from the shovels of sand they’ve been throwing on [her] for weeks and finally climb out of the hole” (128).

Delsie is excited for a storm that is coming into the cape. As the weather worsens, Tressa and Brandy leave the beach, but Brandy stops and makes sure that Delsie won’t stay on the beach during the storm. Delsie feels some hope that Brandy still cares about her, but she realizes that a friend who changes like the weather is not a friend.

Delsie wants to stay on the beach, but Grammy demands that Delsie come with her to Olive’s, as Olive is terrified of storms. Delsie overhears people talking about a child who was rescued from the water. When they muse that it might have been the caretaker’s child, Delsie runs back to the beach. The waves are fierce, but Delsie does not see Ronan or Gusty. There are many lightning strikes, and the rain is wild even before it begins hailing. Olive is hiding under her table when Delsie and Grammy arrive at her house. They all hide in the basement, and Delsie prays for Ronan.

The next day, Ronan arrives at Grammy and Delsie’s house. Delsie is relieved and hugs him. Ronan reveals that he was not the child who was in the water, though his father rescued the one who was. Delsie expresses her love of “wild weather.” Ronan is impressed by Delsie’s knowledge of meteorology.

Ronan and Delsie go to Seagull Beach, where an abandoned boat has washed up. Ronan reveals that he knows about Delsie’s propensity to take photos of abandoned things. Delsie realizes that the boat belongs to Henry, and she and Ronan run to Henry’s house. Esme and Ruby are out of town, and Henry does not answer the door. They find him at Saucepan Lynn’s, a local restaurant. Delsie tells Henry that the boat, which was once Papa Joseph’s, has been beached. They rush to the boat, where they find Captain Ahab, Henry’s cat. Henry calls some men to help him push the boat back into the water when the tide comes in. He says that there is “no use shouting at the rain” (141); what’s more, there were no injuries or damage to the boat.

Ronan and Delsie are together when Aimee and Michael come to Delsie’s house. Aimee and Michael are surprised to see them together, remembering Ronan’s behavior at the ice cream parlor. The four go to Cape Bowl, an arcade and bowling alley. There they run into Brandy and Tressa, who are playing in the lane beside them, and Aimee invites her over, not knowing how Brandy has been treating Delsie. Brandy appears displeased to be next to them. Ronan falls while playing, and Tressa makes fun of him. Ronan, however, is not embarrassed and laughs at himself. Tressa continues to insult Ronan, and Delsie asks Brandy whether she speaks at all anymore. Ronan approaches Tressa and points out that he has learned that if you’re hurt by bullying it means you care, so clearly he does not care about Tressa’s bullying. Tressa and Brandy walk away. Watching Brandy leave with Tressa, Delsie sadly reflects that she misses Brandy but has found true friends in Ronan, Aimee, and Michael.

Henry arrives at Delsie’s house to ask Delsie to come fishing with him the next day. Delsie asks if Ronan can come as well, and Henry agrees. Delsie goes to Ronan’s house and is invited in by Ronan’s father. Delsie notices that the house is messy and that Ronan appears uneasy. Ronan’s father agrees to allow Ronan to accompany Delsie after giving Henry a call.

Ronan worries that he does not have anything for fishing, but Delsie convinces him to come.

Henry and Delsie pick up Ronan early in the morning. Ronan explains that his father was a swordfish fisherman but had to leave his work to take care of Ronan; he often talks about how much he misses the job.

They board Papa Joseph’s old boat. Henry explains that Monomoy is a good place to see seals and great whites. He also shows Delsie and Ronan how to bait. Delsie catches a large fish, which Henry is going to allow her to sell. When Ronan catches a fish, Henry says that they can take a picture of him holding the fish for his father. Ronan looks sad at this suggestion.

Suddenly, Ronan’s fish is seized by a great white shark that jumps out of the water after it. Ronan drops Henry’s prized fishing pole into the water. Ronan tries to jump in after it, but Henry stops him. Ronan feels guilty for dropping the pole into the water and asks Henry not to tell his father, saying, “What kind of fisherman would want me for his kid?” (162).

Delsie and Ronan go to Saucepan Lynn’s. Saucepan Lynn has an argument with some of her regulars, saying that it takes more patience to make sauce than to catch fish. She shows Ronan how to make crepes and compliments him for his bravery in offering to jump after Henry’s fishing pole. Ronan flips the crepe, and it sticks to the ceiling.

Delsie thinks about how Grammy always referred to Papa as her “rock” and as having “strong shoulders,” and she realizes that these references were more about his mental and moral strength than his physical strength. She asks Grammy if her mother was weak. Grammy tells her that her mother loved her but was addicted to alcohol. When she found out that she was pregnant with Delsie, she refused to drink, enduring excruciating withdrawals rather than jeopardizing Delsie’s health. This was the strongest that Grammy had ever seen anyone. Grammy then explains that when Delsie was born, Mellie loved her intensely. When Delsie asks why she abandoned her, Grammy says that her mother was “sick” and cannot be blamed for leaving; in fact, the choice to leave was brave. Mellie was sober for some time after Delsie’s birth but then began using alcohol and drugs again. Though distraught at having to leave Delsie, she did so because she knew she couldn’t be a good mother to her. When Delsie asks whether Grammy ever wonders where Mellie went, Grammy says, “With every breath” (172).