payment page
Roger is a senior at Reardan, and a football and basketball star. Roger and Junior get off to a tumultuous start, as Roger consistently insults Junior with racist comments when Junior first arrives at Reardan. However, Junior responds to Roger’s insults by punching Roger in the face, which impresses the older boy. As Junior’s grandmother surmises, “you men and boys are like packs of wild dogs. This giant boy is the alpha male of the school, and you're the new dog, so he pushed you around a bit to see how tough you are.” By not backing down from a fight, Junior has earned Roger’s respect, and the two gradually become friends. Roger also plays a key role in Junior’s development because he inadvertently teaches Junior that it is okay to trust and depend on your friends, a crucial part of Junior’s coming of age. After a school dance, Junior and Penelope end up at a diner with Roger and his friends. Junior is nearly sick in the bathroom because he knows that he cannot afford to pay for his and Penelope’s meals. Roger guesses that Junior has been concealing his impoverished state from his new Reardan friends and pays for him. He also drives Junior home when Penelope realizes that Junior is going to have to walk twenty-two miles at 3 AM. Junior concludes his journal entry about the dance with “If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.” This is a major turning point for Junior’s life at Reardan; when he finally does admit his poverty, his friends respond, not with insults, but with compassion and support.
