Rules of the Road

A storm starts with thunder and progressively heavier rain as Jenna says goodbye to her mother, Faith, and Opal and helps Mrs. Gladstone into the back of the Cadillac. Mrs. Gladstone brings a walking cane with her, and as Jenna is driving she notices Mrs. Gladstone adjusting her position with a pillow and trying to get comfortable. Jenna asks Mrs. Gladstone if her leg is okay, to which Mrs. Gladstone snaps, “‘This leg will make it to Texas” (48) and provides no further information. As they drive out of Chicago, Jenna thinks about her mixed experiences at high school, her alcohol-addicted dad, and more emotionally about her grandmother and mother, but then she begins thinking more positively about all the new places she is heading to. Mrs. Gladstone sleeps and snores all the way to Peoria, where they have lunch together before visiting the first Gladstone’s Shoe Store of the trip.

Mrs. Gladstone calls Miles Wurlitzer, the manager of Gladstone’s Shoe Store in Peoria, a few minutes before arriving, giving him very short notice so that they can get a true sense of the store. Jenna notices Mrs. Gladstone seems sad about the prospect of retiring and tries to cheer her up with tales of her grandmother and how her