pictures of Hollis woods

Second Picture, Steven, is not one picture but ten because Hollis could never draw him right, though she can see him in her mind when she closes her eyes. On the first day, she took the bus to Branches to spend the summer with the Regan family because the stucco woman wanted "two months to do what I please and not have to worry about that kid getting into everything" (p. 131). As the bus lumbers up the main street of Hancock and stops in front of the diner, the driver tells Hollis they are there, so she gathers her belongings and exits the bus. A tall man leans against the diner wall while his son plays handball against the wall. Grinning, Steven introduces himself and asks how she got such a strange name, claiming he will call her Holly. Hollis tells him she is a year older than she is, pretending to be only one year younger than Steven, and Steven informs her that they are eating lunch at the diner while his mom, Izzy, makes carrot cake for dinner. He challenges her to checkers while they eat, obviously wanting to show her up, and Hollis lets him win a couple games. Steven tells Hollis that he calls his father "Pops", and when she says she will call him "Old Man", the Old Man tells her to try it, but she can tell he does not really mind. Though Hollis tries to draw a picture of Steven playing checkers with her that first day, she can never get it right, maybe because she saw for the first time what it might be like to have a brother.