Out of the Dust Timeline

Beginning: August 1920

January 1934

"Daddy named me Billie Jo. He wanted a boy."

"He got a redheaded, freckle-faced, narrow-hipped girl with a fondness for apples and a hunger for playing fierce piano."

Apple Blossoms

May 1934

"In spite of the dust, in spite of the drought, because of Ma's stubborn care, these trees are thick with blossoms, delicate and pinky-white."

"I stand under the trees and let the petals fall into my hair, a blizzard of sweet-smelling flowers, dropped from the boughs of the two placed there in the front yard by Ma before I was born, that she and they might bring forth fruit into our home, together."

The Accident

July 1934

"The flaming oil splashed onto her apron, and Ma, suddenly Ma, was a column of fire."

"I pushed her to the ground desperate to save her, desperate to save her baby, I tried, beating out the flames with my hands. I did the best I could. But it was no good."

Devoured

August 1934

"Nothing left but a couple apple cores, hanging from Ma's tree. I couldn't tell her, couldn't bring myself to say her apples were gone."

"Ma died that day giving birth to my brother."

Dance Revue

December 1934

"I don't really feel like doing anything. Still, I told Arley I would try, just because it looked like it meant a lot to him."

"He doesn't look at me like I'm a poor motherless thing. He doesn't stare at my deformed hands. He looks at me like I am someone he knows, someone named Billie Jo Kelby. I'm grateful for that, especially considering how bad I'm playing."

Outlined by Dust

January 1935

"We don't talk much. My father never was a talker. Ma's dying hasn't changed that. I guess he gets the sound out of him with the songs he sings."

"I can't help thinking how it is for him, without Ma. Waking up alone, only his shape left in bed, outlined by dust."

Blankets of Black

April 1935

"We watched as the storm swallowed the light. The sky turned from blue to black, night descended in an instant and the dust was on us."

"The dust swarmed like it had never swarmed before."

Out of the Dust

August 1935

"It's the middle of the night and I hear every sound inside me, outside me. I go, knowing that I'll die if I stay, that I'm slowly, surely smothering."

"Now I slip under cover of darkness inside a boxcar and let the train carry me west. Out of the dust."

Met

August 1935

"My father is waiting at the station and I call him Daddy for the first time since Ma died, and we walk home, together, talking. I tell him about getting out of the dust and how I can't get out of something that's inside me."

"As we walk together, side by side, in the swell of dust, I am forgiving him, step by step, for the pail of kerosene. As we walk together, side by side, in the sole-deep dust, I am forgiving myself for all the rest."

Finding a Way

December 1935

"And I'm learning, watching Daddy, that you can stay in one place and still grow."

"I catch her reflection in the mirror, standing in the kitchen, soft-eyed, while Daddy finishes chores, and I stretch my fingers over the keys, and I play."