Chapter 6 Summary

After civics class on Thursday, Coach Popper asks Sonny to drive Ruth to the doctor in Olney. Sonny immediately accepts because it will get him out of algebra. When he gets to the Poppers' house, he realizes that the coach hadn't told Ruth that he wouldn't be driving her. She looks disappointed but tries to hide it, and the two don't talk much during the drive. Sonny notices that she is really pretty, if a little too thin. Sonny sits in the waiting room, reading hunting magazines. He feels too gloomy from the other people waiting, so he goes to wait in the car. The waiting room hasn't changed since he used to come with his father. When Ruth comes out, she is crying quietly, and she tells Sonny that she has to have an operation to remove a tumor in her breast...