The first section of this part of the novel opens with Claudia MacTeer's memory of the day she and her sister beat up Rosemary Villanucci, the daughter of a rich café owner, after she teased them by eating her ice cream in front of them. Following the Great Depression, times were difficult, particularly for the MacTeers. Mr. and Mrs. MacTeer were grumpy, the house was cold, and money was so tight they had to get coal scrap from the train tracks.

Claudia remembers how humiliated she felt when her mother scolded her for getting a chest cold and throwing up on herself. Claudia now wonders if things were as bad as she remembers. In the end, she concludes that her memory of that fall is ultimately one during which she was cared for by "somebody with hands who does not want me to die"(12).

Claudia also remembers this as the fall that Mr. Henry rented a room out in the MacTeer home. Claudia and Frieda were excited when Mr. Henry arrived. The adults were amused when the two girls (9 and 10, respectively) innocently ran their hands over him to discover a surprise he claimed to have for them: "We loved him.