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Friday, December 1–Wednesday, December 6

Summary: Friday, December 1

It’s the night of the Senior Awards Ceremony at the high school. Paul and his parents sit in the stands watching. As Erik’s name is called, Tino attacks Erik, breaking his nose, while Victor pummels Arthur. Coach Warner tackles them, but Victor escapes through the emergency exit. Coach Warner is about to capture Tino, but Paul jumps onto the coach’s back, freeing Tino. Coach Warner brings Paul to his office and demands that he tell him who the boys are. Paul’s father is there as well, furious. Paul breaks free and runs off back toward the housing development, where he spots the graffiti “Seagulls Suck” still on the wall. Paul sees Arthur and Erik as they pull up in Arthur’s Land Cruiser. They get out of the car. Erik approaches Paul with a baseball bat, threatening him. Paul stares him down. Now he has no fear of his brother. Paul challenges Erik to hit him, to show him who he is. Erik’s and Arthur’s faces are disfigured and swollen.

Paul notices how their threats are pathetic; they sound hollow, like an old routine. Paul says he knows Arthur killed Luis. Erik, his eyes swollen, looks at Paul and then calls out to Arthur to leave but calls him “Castor” instead. They drive away. Just then, standing there alone in the dark, Paul has a flashback. Suddenly he remembers what happened to him as a boy. As a child, Erik and his friend Castor cornered Paul and spray-painted him in the eyes. They thought Paul had tattled on Castor for spray-painting graffiti in the neighborhood and were taking revenge. Paul remembers his eyelids being pried open and sprayed. He remembers his mom rushing him to the hospital.

Back at home, Paul confronts his parents with his memory. He tells them he knows they kept this secret from him. First, they make excuses, but then they break down, especially Paul’s father, who collapses and sobs pathetically. Mrs. Fisher remains stone-faced but crying. She says they lied so Paul wouldn’t hate Erik, to which Paul responds by asking if they preferred he hate himself instead. Paul leaves to take a call from Joey upstairs.

Summary: Saturday, December 2

Paul has missed his date with Kerri because of what happened at the awards ceremony. Joey tells Paul that Coach Bright’s car is parked in Mr. Donnelly’s driveway. Paul goes to the house and sees Shandra. She’s sitting in the coach’s car. Shandra tells him that Antoine is inside. Shandra found Antoine crying and says that he’s overwhelmed with guilt. Antoine has gone to Mr. Donnelly’s to tell him that he’s from Tangerine County and shouldn’t be playing on the Lake Windsor team. Antoine felt bad about Shandra’s picture not being run in the Tangerine Times because she has to hide her identity as Antoine’s sister playing for a Tangerine County team. Antoine feels she shouldn’t have to hide her accomplishments. As Antoine steps outside, Shandra introduces Paul. Antoine tells Paul that it is “time to start telling the truth” and that he shouldn’t spend his life “hiding under the bleachers,” words carefully chosen to reveal that he saw Paul hiding there the day Luis was hit. Antoine is on his way to the Sheriff’s Department to make his witness statement. Paul rides home and has a quiet dinner with his parents while Erik stays locked up in his room.

Summary: Sunday, December 3

The next day the news about Antoine’s true address comes out. The decision is made that all the Seagulls’ victories are now forfeited as are the players’ records. The “Erik Fisher Football Dream” is over. Paul’s dad starts fielding calls as he and others strategize a way to make sure Antoine takes all the blame and it stays on record that none of the parents or coaches knew. Paul confronts his father. Paul points out that they never saw Antoine around town and that he knew Antoine was not from Lake Windsor. It’s also reported in the paper how it’s an “open secret” that players from Tangerine fake their addresses to play at Lake Windsor because college scouts never come to Tangerine County. Paul’s father looks visibly shamed.

Summary: Sunday, December 3, later

Later that evening, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher convene another meeting at their home. They have invited Lake Windsor residents to tell them shocking news: They know Erik and Arthur have been robbing the neighbors. Arthur would steal the goods from the homes that were being sprayed for termites while Erik kept watch. Mrs. Fisher discovered gas masks and their gym bags containing the stolen goods inside the family’s storage container. The Fishers put forth a deal to the residents that they’ve already cleared with the town sheriff. If their neighbors receive their goods back, they sign a restitution, and Erik and Arthur don’t go to jail. Some of the goods were given by Erik and Arthur to their girlfriends. For the items that haven’t been recovered, the Fishers will offer a cash sum.

The neighbors are unsympathetic, but they finally relent. Joey calls Paul during the meeting to say that he sees cop cars outside Arthur’s house and that they are looking for him. Paul states that Arthur is at his house. As the meeting ends, the police show up at the Fishers to arrest Arthur. Everyone watches as they handcuff Arthur and charge him for the murder of Luis. Shocked, Arthur’s father rattles off excuses for Arthur, but Paul blurts out that he saw the whole thing and it was Arthur who struck Luis. He also tells them that it was Erik who told him to do it. The police ask Paul if he’s willing to make a statement, and he agrees. The police tell Mr. Fisher to bring Erik back inside and that he’d better be there when they come back to question him. Mr. Fisher agrees, shocked and horrified.

Just then, Paul’s grandparents arrive. After they hear what happened, they turn to Paul’s mother and tell her this is her doing because she never dealt with Erik properly as a kid. Mr. Fisher doesn’t speak. He just hangs his head down, like a coward. Paul’s grandparents say they’re family and that they’ll do anything to help, but they’re clearly disappointed. They get up and ask for a quick tour of the house. Mrs. Fisher half-heartedly leads them around the house; she doesn’t even bother taking them upstairs. Her father congratulates her on having a house nicer than the one he gave her growing up, and he tells her, “good luck.” Paul’s grandparents leave. The Fishers get a call from Paul’s principal telling them they need to come to school tomorrow to talk about Paul.

Summary: Monday, December 4

Paul is expelled from Tangerine County Middle School. As he walks through the halls for the last time, he realizes he really doesn’t belong there. He sees Theresa. She’s impressed that he completed their entire science report and how nicely formatted it is. She tells Paul she’s upset he got involved in Tino’s and Victor’s fight. When he sees Tino and Victor, he realizes how young they really all are. Tino and Victor are suspended for three weeks. As Paul leaves the school grounds, he’s mobbed by a bunch of karate-kicking kids cheering him on for what he did for Tino and Victor. Paul’s mother tells him on the drive home he’ll be going to a Catholic school. Paul thinks about how he’s a “bad boy” now going to a “good boy” school.

Summary: Tuesday, December 5

Mr. Fisher returns home from the police station with Erik. Paul notices how his father is treating Erik like everyone else who is trying to distance themselves from Erik now that he’s a criminal. Tino calls Paul to tell him he’s also going to the Catholic school. He invites Paul to help him tend the new generation of Golden Dawn tangerines, Luis’s prize tangerines for which they are now getting lots of orders. Paul excitedly agrees.

Summary: Tuesday, December 5, later

Paul is asked to turn in his statement to the police about what happened with Luis. He is asked for a paragraph but produces pages instead, thinking about all he knows about Erik and Luis, about their characters and what they’ve each done for the community, clearly implicating Erik as a bad character. He gives it to his parents to read, relieved, remembering what Antoine said to him about the truth “setting him free.”

Summary: Wednesday, December 6

Mr. Fisher drives Paul to his first day of Catholic school. They see the tree the town planted for Mike Costello outside Lake Windsor High. Paul thinks about all the trees that will be planted for Luis now that word has spread about his Golden Dawn tangerines. Paul opens the window of the car to catch the scent of oranges as they pass by an orange grove.

Analysis: Friday, December 1–Wednesday, December 6

In the final section of the novel, readers witness Paul finally breaking free from his family’s denial. Antoine, the true star player of the Lake Windsor High’s football team, turns out to be Paul’s impetus. Antoine, racked with guilt over lying about his address and his sister Shandra having to hide her accomplishments as a player at Tangerine Middle School to keep his secret, feels compelled to reveal his truth. Antoine confesses to Mr. Donnelly that he is an illegal player on the Seagulls and then goes to the police station to make a witness statement against Arthur. His confession is a noble, self-sacrificing act, for it will result in the complete erasure of his football record. As a member of Tangerine County, Antoine’s actions come as no surprise, since the values of the community are based on self-sacrifice for the good of the greater community. Antoine’s comment to Paul that the “truth will set you free” inspires Paul to tell his own secrets and free himself from the mental prison he’s lived in since he witnessed Erik and Arthur’s acts of violence.

Ironically, when Erik and Paul come face-to-face back home for the final time, Erik’s eyes are the ones swelling shut from being beaten up by Tino. Just as Erik’s actual sight is closing, Paul’s figurative sight is opening. Paul can finally see who his brother is: a pathetic and weak coward. Erik, when confronted by Paul, rushes off in Arthur’s car, leaving Paul to feel one final rush of courage as he stands up to his brother for the first time.

Paul makes a lengthy witness statement condemning Erik and confronts his parents about their lies. By speaking the truth about Erik, the person he has most feared, Paul has freed both himself and his community from the oppressive nature of judgment, bullying, and fear. His parents, out of fear of facing Erik’s true nature, have kept the secret from Paul about how he truly lost his sight. Finally, Paul is accepted by Tino and the people of Tangerine County, the place where he feels most at home.

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