Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit

I’m about to click the camera to go home when I overhear Mrs. Kittredge reply that she doesn’t think that I’m spoiled at all. I’m just overwhelmed and shy. Mrs. Kittredge says she’s giving up her room gladly. I’m a wish come true. I’m coming just the nick of time. They need me.

Say what? They need me? Or rather, they need Cousin Lucille. But why? I bury my face in Buddy’s fur and swallow. Not only did Mrs. Kittredge stick up for me, but even though I don’t understand why, it’s clear they are depending on me to help them in some way. Nobody has ever needed me before. And I’ve certainly never had a whole family rely on me. I decide to stay and do what I can to help the Kittredges. I hold Buddy in my arms and tiptoe downstairs.

When I get there, nobody else is in the dining room except for Kit. She’s gathering the breakfast dishes on the table to bring them to the kitchen. I don’t know what else to do, so I put Buddy down and start to clear dishes, too. There are a lot of dishes.

Kit says that I’m a guest. I don’t need to be helping. I tell her that I want to help. I can share her chores. And maybe, I can share her room, too? Kit shakes her head. She says it’s very nice of me, but if she shares her chores and her room, Uncle Hendrick might not give them money for me to stay. I am a paying guest. A boarder. Kit hesitates. Her family needs the money.

Ah. So that’s why they need me. Money. Money is never something I’ve had to worry about because of Mom’s job. But Kit and her mother have both made it clear they really need that money from Uncle Hendrick. I feel a little strange about being needed for money. I ask her why her family needs money so badly, and Kit looks down. She quietly admits that her father lost his job because of the Depression.

I’m confused. He lost his job because he’s sad? Kit shakes her head and repeats the Depression. Remember how people got nervous about their money so they stopped buying things, and then even more people lost their jobs. Kit says that the city where I live has been affected, too. She explains that her dad used to sell cars, but people stopped buying cars because they didn’t have enough money. He kept hoping things would turn around. He kept his car dealership open as long as he can, and he even paid his workers out of his own savings. But eventually, he ran out of money and had to close the car dealership. So Mother had the idea of taking in boarders. Now the family depends on their rent money to pay the mortgage, which is a whole twenty dollars a month. The rent money also goes to buy food and pay bills for everything else.

Now I understand why Mrs. Kittredge said that I was “a wish come true.” Kit continues to say that Uncle Hendrick thinks the boardinghouse is a bad idea, but Kit is proud of them for trying to make it work. Even though sometimes she doesn’t like having to live in such a crowded house. And I’m another person in the house. With Buddy, too.

Kit shakes her head. She would like having me and Buddy as boarders. Kit says she’d be really sorry if Uncle Hendrick wouldn’t let me stay here because they weren’t treating me as a guest.