Full of Beans

Beans enjoys the new Shirley Temple movie very much; he dreams of getting a screen test for an acting role with Warner Brothers, thinking, “Acting didn’t even look that hard. All you had to do was pretend” (53). He sees a curious man in a fedora wearing gloves in the balcony; after the picture, Beans realizes the man left a glass-topped walking stick. He takes it to the ticket seller, Bring Back My Hammer (because he often says this to those who borrow his hammer), who tells Beans it may have been a “haint;” he sold no ticket to someone matching that description.

Back at home, Beans and his mother see men with trucks scooping up the street trash. When Beans is out later with friends, they see “New Dealers” everywhere; these men now work with Mr. Stone to clean and spruce up Key West. They organize volunteers, give away paint, and help the buildings to look friendlier. Mr. Stone himself attempts to open shutters on a home to cast a friendlier image; a scorpion nesting in the shutters surprises him. Beans sees a man with an easel painting a picture of a house, but the painter uses bright colors instead of the house’s actual gray. He tells Beans he used to paint titles for silent movies and that his current job “wasn’t exactly in the plan” (59). Beans determines he will be rich rather than painting houses, even when the man, Avery, tells Beans he has an artist’s eye.

Beans and Kermit use their wagon to deliver Ma’s clean laundry to the town. Ma takes in the firefighters’ laundry from Station No. 3 for free because, unlike the other fire houses, they work when unpaid. Beans is especially fond of the woman who lives at their next stop, Mrs. Albury; she reminds him of a movie star. Her baby, Little Dizzy, is terribly fussy. Mrs. Albury says he has a bad diaper rash. Beans mixes up cornstarch and water like Poppy does for Ma’s hands; Mrs. Albury indicates she is desperate enough to try anything. Beans and Kermit next go to Nana Philly’s house, a mean older lady who is also their grandmother. She is furious they do not return her girdle (which Beans uses to confine Buddy to his crib). A few days later, Mrs. Albury brings a whole tin of chocolate divinity (a simple candy made with egg whites, sugar, and corn syrup) for Beans because the baby’s diaper rash is gone, saying, “You’ve got a real way with babies!” (66). Ma promptly gives Beans charge of Buddy for the afternoon.

The New Dealers not only fix up Key West’s houses but also paint them in a rainbow of pastel colors. A pink one shocks Beans and his friends. Johnny Cakes approaches Beans with a new secret job offer: He wants Beans to ring the fire alarm so that he can get his cargo (the coffins) loaded onto his boat without New Dealers or anyone else seeing. He gives details on time and place and leaves Beans to figure out how to get into the fire alarm box. Beans knows just how to procure a key. He tells Too Bad that he will practice marbles with him so that Too Bad might join the gang. Beans allows Too Bad to beat him three times, then goes for a drink of water. In the kitchen, Beans takes the key from the hook. Too Bad’s mother comes homes and comments on how nicely they are playing marbles, causing Beans some guilt.

Beans pretends to be tired and goes to bed early. After dark, he slips out as if to use the outhouse, then puts on street clothes and goes to the fire alarm at White and Catherine. The “resident writer and another fella” (76) almost see him, but he hides in the shadows until they pass. He uses the key and triggers the alarm, then runs home. Beans pretends to come in from the outhouse as the others look to see where the fire is by the fire card. Beans replaces the key at Too Bad’s the next morning during a marbles game, then goes for his pay from Johnny Cakes, who pays him double. Beans is elated; he goes directly to Gardner’s Pharmacy and buys five-dollar hand cream for his mother. She is suspicious and asks Beans where the money came from for such an extravagant purchase; he says it came from finding cans. She believes and thanks him.