Chapter 14 Bud, not Buddy

Chapter 14 Inside the Sweet Pea, which is a house with a bunch of cheap card tables in the living room, Bud thinks, "This must be exactly how heaven smells!" Everyone is about to sit down at reserved tables, and Jimmy waves Bud over to sit with Calloway. Then Bud meets Miss Thomas, the singer.

Chapter 14 When Bud goes to meet Miss Thomas, he notices many diamond rings on her fingers. She is nice and checks out his stings and infected finger, which she scolds the men for not noticing. Then Miss Thomas asks Bud about his family and who his dad is. Bud points at Calloway and she scolds him for pointing, but in a nice way. Bud goes to sit at Calloway's table and the old man gets up to move to the other table. All at once, every band member gets up to sit at the other table, laughing.

Chapter 14 Steady Eddie wants to sit with Bud, who he says looks like a future sax player. Next, the waitress comes over to take their order and Bud is shocked that they get to choose different kinds of foods to eat. Miss Thomas tries to figure out how or why Bud's mother accused Calloway of being Bud's father, but Bud shoots down each attempt.

Chapter 14 Suddenly, Bud realizes that his idea about his father seemed more real to him when he didn't have to explain it. Eating the best meal of his whole life, Bud relishes every bite and then gets a piece of pie on the house. The beautiful Miss Thomas hums and Bud thinks about how her humming sounds like a train coming on the track.

Chapter 14 Then, looking around the tables, Bud sees how funny Jimmy is and how nice Eddie is. And woop, zoop, sloop… Bud knows that he is where he is supposed to be and begins to cry, bawl, and boo-hoo so hard that Miss Thomas lifts him up and holds him tight on her lap. Best of all—and yes, we totally teared up here—Bud feels like he is home!