The Thing About Georgie

The narrator now wants the reader to pick up a pencil and consider how naturally their hand holds it. The narrator explains how Georgie must hold his pencil in his fist because his fingers are shorter. This makes simple things like writing much harder. The narrator mentions other examples of things that are more difficult, like turning a doorknob, using a key, or holding a violin bow.

Every Saturday, Georgie accompanies his parents to their orchestra performance. Georgie wears a specially made tuxedo to match his father’s, which makes him feel like part of the orchestra. On the way, Georgie’s mother tries to pull over to talk to Andy, but Georgie yells at her not to. Georgie wishes that his mother had asked about Andy two weeks ago when he felt that there was still time to make things right. Now, Georgie feels like he’s been permanently replaced. He insists that he’s fine.

Georgie socializes with the orchestra before and after the performance, for which he has a front-row seat. All the orchestra members know him. Franco, the tuba player, asks if Georgie has any speculation about what instrument the baby will play when it grows up. Franco thinks that the baby will choose the cello, like Georgie’s father. Franco asks if Georgie has any guesses, but the conversation makes Georgie distraught.

At home, Georgie sits at the piano. When he was younger, he would tape popsicle sticks to his fingers so that he could reach all the keys and pretend to play. Georgie hates to admit it, but he will never be a musician. Neither his limbs nor his fingers are long enough for him to play the cello, the piano, the harp, the flute, or the drums. Georgie’s parents bought him a kid-sized violin, but his dwarfism also impacts his back, elbows, and wrists, leaving him unable to hold the violin properly.

Georgie knows that the baby won’t have these limitations. He wonders if the orchestra members took bets on what he’d play before he was born and wonders if his parents were disappointed. He doesn’t blame them for wanting a kid who can do all the things Georgie cannot, but he can’t help feeling replaced. Georgie goes to his room, where the poem on his wall makes him feel even worse. He buries himself in bed and pretends to be asleep when his parents check on him.

After his parents go to bed, Georgie sneaks into the living room and finds the baby book. Baby Godzilla is now 11 inches. Georgie marks it on his closet wall. He struggles to sleep because he realizes that the baby is nearly the same size as the violin he cannot play.

Five weeks pass. Georgie sits in class and watches as Andy and Russ execute the pencil-tapping, note-passing move that Georgie and Andy used to do. Georgie feels like his life is ruined. He’s lost his best friend, his parents are excited about the baby, and Baby Godzilla is now over 14 inches tall. Georgie knows that Andy’s family will move soon and that it will be the end of their friendship for good. The only thing Georgie is looking forward to is ending his Lincoln project with Jeanie. They’ve worked together every Friday for weeks, and Georgie has come up with ways to avoid working directly with her.

Georgie and Jeanie must fill out a paper stating which parts of the project they’ve completed. The list of things they’ve worked on together is empty. Georgie mistakenly believes that he has one more Friday to work on the project, but his teacher corrects him. Georgie and Jeanie must get together after school to finish the project.

Georgie tries to get Jeanie to sign their page, saying that he’ll finish the project himself and make it look like they both did it. Jeanie refuses to lie. She writes her address down on Georgie’s arm and tells him to come over at six o’clock.

Jeanie drags Georgie straight to her room. Georgie does his best to remain patient with Jeanie, who doesn’t even know what they are looking for in their library books. Jeanie badgers Georgie about signing up to be a president in the school play. She says that she wants to play Herbert Hoover and details what she learned about him when she should’ve been researching Lincoln. Jeanie wants to be an actress, a writer, or an obstetrician. Georgie wants to get back to work.

When Jeanie finally returns to work, she’s surprised to learn that the Gettysburg Address is not a street address. Jeanie gets distracted again and tells Georgie about her mother, who sang backup for a touring artist and passed away when Jeanie was too young to remember her.

Jeanie reveals that she’s found the entire Gettysburg Address in one of their library books. Georgie reads through it and asks what “consecrate” means. Jeanie tells Georgie to grab the dictionary, which is on a shelf above her dresser. He asks if she can get it, but she says that he’s the one who wants to use it. Georgie points out that the book is too high for him to reach, so Jeanie tells him to stand on her chair, which is covered in clothes. Georgie clears the chair, drags it to the dresser, and climbs until he can reach the dictionary.

Jeanie won’t stop talking while Georgie works. She talks about her brothers and then brings up the play again. Jeanie suggests that Georgie play George Washington. Georgie can’t tell if the suggestion is innocent or if she’s mocking his middle name. He decides that there’s no way for her to know. Jeanie asks if George’s parents are tall, mentioning that she read a book about little people.

In his hurry to finish and leave Jeanie’s house, Georgie proposes an unrefined final sentence about how Lincoln was the best president ever. He doesn’t believe that’s true—Washington was a much better president, in Georgie’s opinion—but he wants to go home.

Jeanie waits with Georgie for his father to pick him up. Jeanie hints that she knows Georgie’s middle name. Georgie tries to ask how she knows, but Jeanie’s older brothers interrupt them. The boys mock Jeanie and call Georgie her “boyfriend.” They hurl relentless insults at Jeanie, who tries to fight back against their mockery. Georgie asserts that he isn’t Jeanie’s boyfriend. The boys say that no one would be Jeanie’s friend, much less her boyfriend.

Jeanie asserts that she does have friends. Her brothers say that Georgie probably isn’t even her friend. The boys ask if Georgie is Jeanie’s friend, and Georgie remains quiet. Jeanie’s brothers walk away, laughing.

Georgie’s father pulls up. Jeanie follows him out and yells at him about how mean he is. She shoves him away, retreats to her front door, and screams that she knows his middle name because she looked at the class roll book before slamming the door.

The narrator now asks the reader to open their mouth and grab their tongue with their two fingers. The narrator stalls for a moment, observing the feeling, and then delivers the news that Georgie can do this. Georgie can do many things the reader can do. The narrator just wanted the reader to know.

Georgie turns in the report the next morning. Jeanie taps his shoulder and gives him a hard time. Georgie’s class receives slips of paper to volunteer for a role as a president in the play. Georgie wants to be George Washington, but he’s too nervous. Jeanie accuses him of having stage fright. Georgie discards his blank paper. He watches Andy across the room and wonders where his family will move. He wishes that he could ask.

The play’s cast is posted after lunch, and Georgie is upset to see that Russ is Washington. He’s even more distraught to see his name next to Abraham Lincoln. Georgie tries to back out, but his teacher insists that he stay in, saying that he was excited Georgie volunteered. Jeanie reveals that she wrote Georgie’s name down, taunting him about having stage fright.