jkwsquirrel

Thanks jp! A tale of two mothers, for sure. Time is running out for people to come clean to Brett.

This made me laugh way too much! I don't know if it's the gay connection, but certainly Jack could use the name connection as his excuse for his overprotective behavior about Brett. But is it just a coincidence that Jack began to lose favor in Pastor Carl's circle around the same time that Brett's sexuality was becoming public? Not that Carl knows, but maybe Jack doesn't appreciate the direction of Carl's preaching. Another domino? David is better able to talk to Paula about Carl than George was. She could dismiss George more easily because he just didn't understand.

Thanks DQ! Our little Billy is becoming a man. Oh sure, we get the occasional emotional outburst, but not so much at this point. And can we really blame Brett for being a brat after all he's been through?

Thanks! As we get closer to the end we're discovering more secrets as the dominoes begin to fall.

I was so happy to have Brett back home. I was able to stop in and see him every day after school to bring him his schoolwork. He spent the first week home in the hospital bed his mom got him. But after the second week he was able to move to the couch. He wore nothing but a pair of boxers and the giant cast on his leg most of the time. When visitors were coming, he’d pull on a t-shirt and maybe a pair of gym shorts. He couldn’t take a shower or a bath, so he had to have a sponge bath every

Definitely "quasi" mature! Though Aiden is right. Billy isn't someone who likes to get physically rough. He does his fighting with his mouth. Any time Billy's been in a physical situation, he's been slaughtered. Even the girls beat him.

Sort of. It gave us insight into her reasoning. She really thinks she's earned what she has in spite of her father, not because of him. Of course, we all know what Billy thinks she's earned! I'm glad the real Dustin is back. As for a three-way relationship? Brett doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would share his boyfriend. Did I pair the spares in this chapter? We'll find out! As I described up above, Aiden is a different breed than Billy. If the school thinks Billy is bad, they haven't seen anything yet! Although Billy threatening to slap the braces out of his mouth isn't exactly the best way to deal with someone!

There's a very short fuse between his brain and his mouth! Of course, sometimes it backfires on him! He's just really good at it, too much talent to let walk away. I'm sure his coach and the other players were begging for him to come back. He won the batting title as a freshman. Even without the intervention of the police, he was going to fall. Too much pressure, too weak-willed. Getting caught was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. Exactly! We only get half of the Brett-Dustin phone call, but what a phone call it was! The relationship between Em and Dustin is going to be quite interesting in the next couple chapters. Indeed. He's going to make Billy look downright cooperative.

Both classic Billy snark moments. I also liked, "I'll slap the braces out of your stupid little mouth." Such a "Billy" thing to say!

I got the MTM reference! lol I think allllll the way back to chapter 1-1. Billy was moving on to the baseball field, but he couldn't help but stop and watch the kids who had taken over his old section of the playground. Aiden represents those kids who had taken over the swings. Billy is reaching the end of his high school days. Soon he'll have moved on, and the younger kids like Aiden will inherit the school. Aiden is just bold enough to call out the older kids and call them on the way they used their time at school. Just think, here is this sophomore, barely five and a half feet tall, calling out two six-foot tall seniors. Mon Valley High better watch out, because Aiden and the kids like him aren't going to back down when things get difficult.

It was a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially Dustin. It took him a lot of work to get there, but we're finally seeing the young man Dustin could have been long ago if not for his abusive upbringing. Can't say the same for Joey though!

Billy has his moments, but for someone younger like Aiden all he sees is someone who was too ashamed to be honest about who he is. When I think about Billy and the era in which the story takes place, he's almost the last of his kind. He's grown up right on the edge of when marriage equality is about to become a reality. His whole world is being flipped upside down, and he's trying to find his place in that coming world. He's a walking contradiction, conservative upbringing clashing with a liberal sex drive. It's fun to play in that sandbox as a writer, yet frustrating for the people who have to live with him. (and sometimes for my readers!) Aiden represents the younger generation that is coming up behind Billy's era, ones who are not so willing to put up with the bullshit, and less patient with the lack of progress previous generations made.

It was one of my favorite Billy moments too. Glad you enjoyed it!

Brett was in the hospital for about a week. In that week, I helped Dr. Reilly get the living room ready for Brett. She borrowed a hospital bed for him so he could keep his leg up. He wouldn’t be allowed to put any weight on it until April. Then he’d be in rehab. The doctors were optimistic that he’d be able to go back to school by mid-April. He’d be on crutches, but he would be able to be there to graduate. At least he’d be home for his birthday. Jen and I didn’t talk much about the deal

Joey is far too afraid of his father to try anything like that.

How dare you, sir! I may be sneaky and a bastard, but being called a "rat" is highly offensive to the squirrel community! Some folks call us rats with bushy tails!

Yeah, I might have been too dismissive of Joey's emotional abuse. I've made the case that Brett and Dustin were both neglected by their parents. They've adjusted well, mostly because they found other role models. Particularly, Brett had George and Paula and Dustin had Miss Winston and his coaches and therapists (and later his sister who took him in for a year). Joey hasn't had that interested adult in his life, and so his response to his pain is to seek relief from drugs.

Billy is definitely discovering just how petty and small his little town is. I think many of us eventually come to see our childhood community as a place that we must break away from in order to grow. I also think people see what they want to see. Lots of people look alike. We see all the clues because Billy sees them. Someone else in that community would have no reason to be looking for a family resemblance between two relatively unconnected friends. Jack has lived in the community for years. Dr. Reilly moved in when Brett was eight. Even though they went to the same college, how many people in town even remember that Jack was away for a few years? In a small town, inertia is king. Jack "always" lived there. Dr. Reilly moved in years after her son was born.

I've thought of Jack as an adult version of Brett without the redeeming qualities. Brett can be manipulative too, but Jack has had more practice. And his earlier treatment of Dustin reveals how vicious he can be to someone he doesn't like. Jack is a bully. Joey learned his boorish behavior by example.

I saw her initial sending away of Billy as more of a heat of the moment thing. She was angry and didn't feel like having Billy hanging around, and there really was nothing he could have done at that point and it was better that he get some rest. I think the heart of the story is about finding one's own way, even when one's parents or society tries to make you conform to their way. It's not a perfect journey by any means.

We haven't heard the last of the bribe. As for the next chapter, I think it's a little more the adult reaction to these crazy kids than the kids themselves. "Boy, those kids aren't alright!"

We'll explore Jenny and Jack's "relationship" in a future chapter. But there is a hint of what Jen thinks about Jack waaaaaaaay back in chapter 2.7 when Brett describes the conversation Jenny had with her sister: “You said he hurt you! He used you! He ruined your life! I heard you say those exact words!” Brett thought she was talking about her boyfriend then, but now we know who she was really talking about.

I hate to do this, because it started a good discussion, but I meant for that line to come from Jen, not Jack. Entirely my fault, as I wasn't as clear as I needed to be. I've edited it to clarify it better.

True. There's not a single person in this story who thinks what they are doing is wrong.

Of course, Billy could use the speech to ask Jack to give the internship to the son he loves the most, but he'll be screwed out of valedictorian before he gets the chance anyway, right? But anyway, yes, you may be on the right track in thinking that Joey knows. The funny thing is, that if he does know it just proves how right he is about his father. After all, Jack and Jen are going through so much trouble to keep Billy quiet, yet it never occurs to them that Joey could have possibly figured it out.