The Great Gilly Hopkins Page #4

That red book on the shelf?

I can't reach it.

Then we're both going

to have to do it.

Come on.

I still can't reach it.

Okay, I'm getting scared.

Think of how proud

everybody's going to be after,

when the surprise

can be told and everything,

and they found out

who was climbing...

I still can't reach it, though.

I know. Just pull it out.

You have nothing to worry about.

Pow!

Let me see, let me see.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa! Whoa! Ow!

Stop. Calm down.

Is there any more?

No, I don't think so.

Okay, let's go back down.

Careful.

Oh, you forgot some.

Thank you.

Come on, hurry up.

I'll give the money

to Randolph later.

You can go back to playing.

I got to straighten up my room.

And remember, this is our own

secret surprise.

Our secret, okay.

Twenty-five bucks.

Get my hair torn out,

and I can only get as far

as the Mississippi river.

Brilliant, Gilly.

Just brilliant.

Dear Courtney

Rutherford Hopkins,

I received your card.

I'm sorry to bother you

with my problems,

but as my real mother,

I feel you have

the right to know

about your daughter's situation.

At the present time

I'm very desperate,

or I would not bother you.

Churchill downs event...

The foster mother

is a religious fanatic.

Her house is filthy.

She has weird friends

who show up

at weird hours of the night.

I practically live in a closet

and share

a bug infested bathroom

with another kid here

whom I'm expected

to take care of,

which is very hard

with all my schoolwork,

which is very excessive

from a very mean teacher.

I saved up $65 towards my ticket

to California.

The full cost is $189.

If you can send me the rest,

I'll get a job in California

when I get there

and pay you back.

I'm very smart and I can

take care of myself,

so I will not be a burden

to you in any way.

Yours sincerely, your loving

daughter, Galadriel Hopkins.

There's a sweet car in front

of Mr. Randolph's house.

Yeah.

Mr. Randolph won't be

joining us tonight.

His son's in town,

cleaning up his daddy's place.

Some of those rooms

haven't been touched in years.

He's going to find out

I stole the money.

He's calling the cops right now.

I, uh...

I just got to take some stuff

over to Agnes's.

Don't go.

I'm not.

Don't tell trotter.

This is part of our secret.

Thanks, Agnes.

You're, like,

really brave or crazy.

The crazy one calling me crazy.

That's crazy.

Thanks for pretending

to be my friend.

Yeah?

Ticket to San Francisco, please.

Round trip?

No, one way.

Are you here by yourself?

Me? Uh...

No.

My mother's over there.

She doesn't speak English.

Dad's second wife.

She already has her ticket.

She needs me to get mine.

I can't wait

to ride a cable car.

Computer's down.

It's going to probably take me

a couple of minutes.

Oh, okay.

You going on a long trip, honey.

You might want to take a look

at those books over there.

I don't read books.

It's a shame.

Not many people do anymore.

Crap.

Never, never, never!

I need you

to calm down, miss trotter.

No one is blaming you.

There is no indication

of failure on your part.

I mean, I never...

I never thought Gilly

would be a flight risk.

She's never done this before.

She's just a little mixed up,

that's all.

Look, miss trotter,

you've been

a terrific assistance

to the program for years now.

I think maybe it's time.

I'm not letting her go.

Then if you're not

going to think for yourself,

I think maybe we should think

of William Ernest.

He's come too far.

William Ernest

was the one who told me

that she'd left.

He wants her back.

Yes, because...

Probably because he saw

how upset you were.

Oh, come on.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

He's a very sensitive child,

and that's even more of a reason

to remove this damaging...

William Ernest has been with me

for going on nearly

a year and a half.

He's going to make it.

I know he will.

Sometimes, Mr. Ellis,

you have to walk on your heel

to favor your toe,

even though you know your heel's

going to get a little sore.

Well, somebody's

got to favor Gilly.

She's long overdue,

and I am not going to add

my name to the list of people

who failed her.

God knows I just about died

when I found out she'd gone.

Be honest, should we consider

a change, maybe for both kids?

Both?

Yes.

We were just discussing

the present situation,

which is not a good one.

And I was explaining

how sometimes children

make mistakes.

Too many, in my opinion.

And Mr. Ellis, you know,

he was... he's willing

to give you another chance.

Actually...

With Thanksgiving

coming and everything,

and the holidays.

The holidays should not...

If you'd like to stay here

with me and William Ernest,

well, that's just fine.

What about my real mother?

She wants me

to come to California.

If you're referring

to the postcard,

that's the first one

in three or four years.

If your mother really

wanted you there with her...

She's different this time.

I know it.

She's waiting for me.

She wants me to come.

She said so.

If she'd known you...

If she "knowed"

what a girl she has,

she'd be here in a minute.

The police said you had

well over a $100 with you

at the bus station.

I have trouble believing

that was your own money.

So, I call taking

someone else's money stealing.

So do we, Mr. Ellis.

Surely you don't think

this is the first time

something like this has happened

to me over 20 years?

No, not at all.

Well, then how about

trusting me to handle it?

It's not you I don't trust.

I need to hear it from Gilly.

Can I trust you?

Yes.

Miss trotter,

against my better judgment,

I will wait

till after Thanksgiving.

But after that we will

revisit this, understand?

I sure wish trotter

reacted like you did.

She's made up this huge chart

for chores

to make up for the money I spent

on food and junk I bought.

For housework, I get paid

a measly 25 cents an hour.

That's slave labor.

Oh, sorry about

that slave thing.

I believe that miss trotter

feels that the payment

should equate

with the punishment.

If she pays you a lot,

it wouldn't feel

like punishment, would it?

Yeah, I guess.

But you know what?

For 75 cents an hour,

I could help W.E.

With his schoolwork.

And naturally I'd be spending

a lot more time with W.E.

Naturally.

It's just the broom, goofy.

Listen, what are you going

to do when somebody socks you?

I'm not going to hit you, silly.

Are you going to go through life

letting people pick on you?

I'm going to teach you

how to fight.

You hear about how

I fought six boys

at school all by myself?

Well, before I get through

with you,

you're going to do

the same thing.

So, first thing,

when somebody yells at you,

you got to stand tall.

See, they might not even

want to hit you.

Stand tall,

take a deep breath and say,

"get the hell

out of my way!"

Try it.

Hell's my way.

No, just follow me.

Get the...

Get the...

hell...

Hell...

out of my way!

Out of my way.

Now yell it like you mean it,

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