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Thursday, October 5–Friday, November 10

Summary: Thursday, October 5

The next day at science class, Joey doesn’t show up. Paul knows deep down that Joey is not coming back and that he’s probably back at Lake Windsor reenrolling. Theresa tells Joey that Tino has been suspended. Paul worries Theresa is mad at him, but she assures him that Joey is the problem, not Paul. She tells Paul that their brother Luis is very special to them and that she and Tino won’t tolerate anyone talking bad about him, which Joey did when he mouthed off at them all. Theresa invites Paul to the family’s plantation so they can talk to Luis about their report on his tangerine, the Golden Dawn. Henry D.’s brother, Wayne, drives Henry D. and Paul to the Cruzes’ home. Wayne is the volunteer fireman from earlier in the story. As they drive into the plantation, Paul notices a refreshing citrus scent in the air and a strange tin structure. He learns that the structure is a Quonset hut, a makeshift military-grade structure used for sheltering during World War II.

Once out of the truck, Paul notices how Luis is “bony and muscular” at the same time and walks with a limp. Luis is extremely knowledgeable and refers to the different varieties of lemons, oranges, and tangerines as if they are his children. At the end of the visit, Luis tells Paul that he can come back anytime. When Wayne returns to pick the boys up, Paul notices Wayne has a spray nozzle attached to his truck and asks what it’s for. Wayne is the person who has been hired to spray the housing development with pesticides for the termite infestation. Wayne tells Paul that the houses that have termites are the ones that were built over the tangerine trees that were cleared and buried to make way for the housing development, pointing out that the hill is basically made of dead tangerine trees that the termites are feeding on. There’s nothing that can be done, Wayne says.

When they reach Paul’s house, Paul watches Wayne spray a home. Suddenly, Paul has a flashback from his childhood. He remembers his parents and Erik walking around him as he was lying on the ground. They were testing his peripheral vision. Erik tried to scare Paul by coming up behind him and breathing on him. Paul started crying, but neither parent comforted him. They were more focused on yelling at Erik. Paul remembers that it was after this point in time that he got glasses.

Summary: Thursday, November 2

Paul reflects on how busy his life and his family’s lives are now. They rarely have time to sit down for dinner as a family. Mr. Fisher is now director of Civil Engineering for Tangerine County, and his old boss, “Old Charley Burns,” died from a heart attack over the fallout from the sinkhole scandal. Mrs. Fisher is now the head of the Architectural Committee and has big plans for the housing development. Erik’s embarrassing football incident is well behind him, and he’s now regularly making the papers as a star player. Paul thinks about how he’s doing well at soccer, but no one in his family notices. The War Eagles are becoming an indomitable presence, and Paul thinks about how now he’s the one causing fear, not feeling fear.

Summary: Saturday, November 4

Paul has his mother drive him back to Luis’s plantation for a visit. Mrs. Fisher worries it’s dangerous for Paul to be traipsing around the farm, but Paul tells her she’s being irrational. She tells him not to touch anything “rusty” because he hasn’t had his tetanus booster shot. Tino sees Paul and is cold to him when he arrives. He knows Tino will be civil to him as a teammate, but he has no use for him at home. Luis invites Paul to help them work. He tells Paul to grab a hose and follow them to the trees. They lay an irrigation system together. Paul asks Luis what he likes about working in the trees, and Luis gets wistful and almost teary-eyed explaining his love for the trees and their scent. It’s hot, and they work for hours. Paul gets a bad sunburn. Tino and Paul go back to the Quonset hut to wait for Paul’s mom. They talk more about Luis, and Tino reveals how Luis used to play goalie at Tangerine Middle School. Luis had an accident farming, however. He fell out of a tree, stabbed himself with his own clippers, and badly hurt his knee. When their mother died, Luis quit school to take care of the trees, as well as Tino and Theresa.

Summary: Sunday, November 5

The news about Erik’s blooming football success captures Mr. Donnelly’s attention. Mr. Donnelly has ties to the University of Florida football team and invites the Fisher family over to discuss Erik’s future. During the visit, Erik is polite and courteous, but Arthur is waiting outside for him in the truck, and Erik wants to get out of there as quickly as possible. Mr. Donnelly and the Fishers talk for a while, and Mr. Donnelly shows Paul his own trophies, which seem unimpressive. Mr. Donnelly strikes up a conversation with Paul about Paul’s soccer coach, Betty Bright. He tells Paul Betty was a star athlete herself and went to the Olympics. She got elbowed in the face, however, and didn’t end up qualifying. The next Olympics was boycotted by the United States because it was in Moscow, so Betty never got to fulfill her dreams. As the Fishers leave to go home, Paul catches sight of something shiny on the dashboard of Arthur’s Land Cruiser. Back at home, Paul has a flashback to a time when his grandparents came to visit. In his memory, Paul’s grandmother asks Mrs. Fisher what happened to Paul’s eyes. Mr. Fisher shushes her and says they can talk about it inside and that the most important thing is that Paul is OK.

Summary: Tuesday, November 7

Paul’s soccer team has their last home game. Paul scores a goal, but a storm comes, and the other team decides to leave as it’s against their school policy to play in lightning. Unfortunately, Paul’s goal won’t count, but the War Eagles still remain undefeated. Their next game is against the Lake Windsor team, which also has an undefeated record. Coach Bright tells the team that they must stay focused.

Summary: Wednesday, November 8

A story in the Tangerine Times comes out about the upcoming match between the War Eagles and the Lake Windsor Seagulls. Mr. Donnelly is behind the story. He decided to run a feature on Betty Bright and a photo of the moment she got elbowed in the face at the Olympics. Paul wonders if Coach Bright will be bothered seeing a photo of a painful moment in her past. 

Summary: Friday, November 10

The War Eagles and Lake Windsor Seagulls play the final game of the season for the championship title. They play at Lake Windsor. On the bus to the game, Paul looks at the Lake Windsor grounds with foreign eyes. Now that he’s a War Eagle, he can see how precarious and “fake” all the developments look in comparison to the sights and smells of Tangerine County. Both teams have a one-point difference. If they tie the game, the War Eagles still win, but if the War Eagles lose, they’ll lose the tournament completely. Paul sees his mom in the stands and wonders if she realizes her son is playing for the “away” team. Joey and Kerri are also there.

On the bus, Victor recounts a story about Gino, one of the Lake Windsor players he doesn’t like, scoring wildly at last year’s final game. Victor gets angry as he tells the story, as he considers Gino as “stealing” their victory. Heated up, when Victor sees Gino on the field, he gets into Gino’s face, and another player knocks Victor to the ground. Victor is concussed and taken off the field by Coach Bright. She sends Paul in to replace Victor, and Paul feels excited because he was embarrassed sitting on the sideline in front of his Lake Windsor friends. Paul scores a goal. The game continues. Shandra, who was feeling ill before the game, starts to vomit. Paul has to replace her as the goalie. Gino comes in for the attack and hits a powerful shot at Paul. Paul gets a hand on the ball, but the ball goes into the net. Gino helps him up and wipes the blood off Paul’s goggles. Paul’s nose is bleeding, but he feels emboldened now.

Seeing Paul’s strengths, Coach Walski approaches Coach Bright to tell her Paul is not eligible to play on her team, recalling how he had to take Paul off the Lake Windsor team because he was an IEP student. Furthermore, he adds that Paul doesn’t live in Tangerine County. Coach Bright, who was ready to ignore Walski over the IEP comment, is now aggravated. She reveals that her player Shandra is his star football player Antoine’s sister and that they are both residents of Tangerine County. Coach Bright warns that if Walski wants to push the issue with residency with Paul, she can push the issue with Antoine. Walski relents.

Soon, Victor returns to the game and ties the score. Victor and Gino get into a fight on the field, and the game goes to a penalty kick. Paul readies for the kick. He remembers which way Gino hits, but Gino goes the opposite way. Paul dives but misses the ball entirely. Gino’s kick doesn’t go into the net, so the War Eagles win. Kerri congratulates Paul after the game. Mrs. Fisher wants to take Paul home, but he tells her he wants to ride the bus back to Tangerine County. She throws her hands up in the air, thinking it’s foolish and not understanding what the victory means to Paul. She follows Paul’s bus, and as he deboards, he cries happy tears.

Analysis: Thursday, October 5–Friday, November 10

By the end of Part 2, Paul is absorbed into the lives of the people of Tangerine County, and he’s exposed to the inner workings of the lives of Hispanic laborers and their families. What Paul finds is a rich network of families, all working together to keep the Cruz family business alive. This unity stands in stark contrast to his life at home, where his family barely speaks to each other.

In Paul’s own family, each member is narrowly focused on their own goals and lives. Mrs. Fisher focuses on her role as head of the Architectural Committee. Mr. Fisher pays attention to his role as new director of the Department of Civil Engineering. Erik cares only about his role as star placekicker for the Lake Windsor Seagulls. The Fisher family members come in and out of the house, busily rushing around, but no one seems to see the other. They barely have time for dinner. In contrast, at the Cruzes, the family works in tandem. Theresa helps her father with the business, and Luis helps with the crops. Luis is a son but also a father figure in the family and a model of sacrifice. Luis is deeply involved in his siblings’ lives, driving them to practices and helping them with their science report, while Paul’s father never drives Paul to school and doesn’t come to any of Paul’s games. These differences highlight the contrasting values in each community. In Lake Windsor, value is placed on individual achievement, recognition, and leadership, while in Tangerine County, the focus is on family and community.

Ironically, Mrs. Fisher’s attempts at becoming a leader in Lake Windsor Downs only create more problems for her. The community is built on rotting and burning land, and as there are no real solutions to the termites, mosquitoes, and muck fires, there’s nothing for her to truly lead—the residents might as well try to stop lightning from striking or rain from falling. The muck fires, mosquitoes, and termites are the result of ignoring reality and building haphazardly instead of integrating with the natural world. Such a community contrasts sharply with the earthy and unpolished beauty of the homes, buildings, and tangerine groves of Tangerine County.

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