Lemons

Lemonade meets her estranged grandfather and new guardian, Charlie. He is gruff and introverted, and his farmhouse is plain, dull, and without any technology. Lemonade and her grandfather stare at one another, trying to figure each other out. Charlie notes how Lemonade’s red curly hair and green eyes are just like her mother’s, and he shows her to her room. Lemonade feels unsettled by the quiet of the new place. Her room is Charlie’s old study and contains little more than a bed. The social worker tells Lemonade that everything will be okay and that she’ll be back for monthly check-ins. Left alone, Lemonade sits on the bed and cries.

Lemonade tells Charlie that she eats different cereal and drinks different milk. He hands her some natural cereal that reminds Lemonade of bird food, and she reluctantly eats. Moments later, the boy from the woods bursts into the kitchen, telling Charlie about his latest video of Bigfoot. The boy, Tobin Sky, wears a hat that says “Bigfoot Detectives Inc.” and gives Lemonade a card that reads the same (13).

Lemonade is tired of the Bigfoot hype. Her grandfather runs a Bigfoot souvenir shop, and she now lives in the Bigfoot capital of the world. Tobin tells her that ever since 1967 footage showing an alleged full image of Bigfoot emerged, the area has been a hotspot for sightings and researchers. Lemonade is skeptical, wondering why the Bigfoot hasn’t been identified yet and what they might be hiding from. Tobin offers to share a secret that Lemonade cannot repeat.

Tobin takes Lemonade out to Charlie’s garage—the Bigfoot Detectives Inc. headquarters, complete with a sign made by Charlie. Tobin admits that he runs the operation alone, keeping logs of Bigfoot sightings. He hints at Lemonade joining, but she plans to leave Willow Creek as soon as possible.

Tobin decides to make Lemonade his temporary assistant, as he only wants a partner if that person plans to remain in Willow Creek. He shows Lemonade the message pad and answering machine. Lemonade swears to keep all their findings secret. Lemonade wants to know the exciting details of the operation, but a phone call comes in reporting a sighting.

Lemonade reluctantly climbs onto the handlebars of Tobin’s bicycle, and they ride through town. Lemonade is afraid and can’t stand the dirt, smells, or sights around her; she even gets a bug in her mouth. When they reach the house belonging to Mrs. Dickerson, the woman who called about Bigfoot, Lemonade smells cookies, but her appetite was ruined by the bug. Mrs. Dickerson says that Lemonade looks just like her mother, Elizabeth, at that age. Mrs. Dickerson taught Elizabeth when she was a girl. She tells Lemonade about the after-school veterinary service that Elizabeth started. Tobin waits impatiently, wanting to hear about Bigfoot.

Mrs. Dickerson insists that she saw a Bigfoot peering into her window while she was making cookies, causing her to drop them. Tobin and Lemonade dust the outside window for fingerprints and find nothing. Tobin tells Lemonade about how humans and primates, like Bigfoot, both have dermal ridges—the markings that make a unique fingerprint and allow for grip. When Lemonade grabs some tape out of Tobin’s bag, she finds a picture of Tobin with his dad; Lemonade says she doesn’t know her dad. Tobin tells Mrs. Dickerson that nothing turned up, and she offers the kids some tea and cookies.

For dinner, Charlie serves hot dogs to an unhappy Lemonade. Charlie and Tobin solve a puzzle as they discuss the day’s events. Tobin teases Lemonade about the bug she swallowed. This upsets Lemonade, and Tobin points out how much she complains. Lemonade explains that her name is supposed to signify her ability to make lemonade from lemons, and Tobin disagrees. Lemonade bursts into tears, insults Tobin, and leaves. She overhears Charlie telling Tobin to go easy on her. Lemonade stops at a photograph of her mother with her parents when she was a child. She looks just like her but feels like she no longer lives up to her name.

Lemonade dreams that she is with her mom at their favorite ice cream parlor, but Tobin appears and tells her they got another Bigfoot call. When Lemonade wakes up, Tobin is at her window, hounding her about being late for their meeting. Lemonade asks for five minutes and promises to meet him at the headquarters.

Lemonade looks at her suitcase and says her mother’s name out loud, which she does every day. She ties her hair like her mother did in the photograph, and when she heads downstairs, she finds Twinkies on the counter, which she mentioned missing. Lemonade finds Tobin in the garage. The phone rings, and Tobin looks embarrassed but refuses to say more. He gives Lemonade a handmade badge with her name and title, “Assistant Bigfoot Detective” (51), written on it. Lemonade asks when she gets a hat, but Tobin insists those are only for partners. When the phone rings again, Lemonade answers; local boys are pranking Tobin, claiming they’re being eaten. Lemonade yells at them. They hang up, and Tobin is silent.

Tobin and Lemonade get a call from Mr. Miller and his son, Jay, who took some blurry, grainy photographs of a bipedal form in the woods. Lemonade sees nothing in the photos, but Tobin decides to take them to Charlie at his souvenir shop. At the shop, Lemonade is surprised to find a comfortable space, complete with a fireplace and reading area, toys, and many Bigfoot souvenirs. Charlie gives Tobin and Lemonade each a piece of taffy and looks at the photographs as a family comes into the shop. Charlie comments on the size of the creature in the photograph, and he and Charlie explain the differences between a bear and a Bigfoot to Lemonade. Lemonade asks if it might be fake, which upsets Tobin. Charlie agrees that it’s good to have doubts, but this only upsets Tobin further. He insists that Charlie tell the story of the day he saw a Bigfoot. Charlie recounts a Bigfoot appearing in front of his car while driving through fog. Charlie slammed on the brakes, and he and the Bigfoot stared at one another before it ran off. Charlie says the Bigfoot seemed more scared of him than he was of it, which seems strange to Lemonade, who considers them beasts. Tobin corrects her, noting, “Just ‘cause you don’t understand them doesn’t make them beasts or monsters!” (63).