Chapter 12

Finny's broken leg.

As soon as we went to the stairs, the debate began of who to call at this time of night. We first called Phil Latham and then Dr. Stanpole came. Finny was extrememly calm and sat in the chair as he was brought to the infirmary. I, "Tried to phrade my question but nothing came out" (172). The question was extremely hard to put together and so I watched Finny go to the infirmary. THe only knowledge I had from Dr. Stanpole, was that he had a clean break, but a break none the less. On my way back to the infirmary, I ran into Mr. Ludsbury, who ordered me back to my dorm. He wasn't watching, so I continued on to the infirmary. I waited outside of the window, of FInny's room and heard the doctors whispering. I thought about FInny making jokes at them and I couldn't control myself from laughing. "I was laughing so hard it hurt my stomach and I could feel my face getting more and more flushed" (175). The doctors finally left and I decided to try to go into Finny's room and talk to him. He was nervous when he heard me, because he couldn't see anything. I then realized, "That his leg was bound so that he could not move very well, and that he was struggling to unleash his hate against me" (176). He was so angry he tried to get up and get to me, but fell, with his legs on the bed, and his hands on the ground. All I could do was apologize before I left the room. The next day, I had a note from Dr. Stanpole, asking me to bring Finny's things. I went to my classes and then went back to the infirmary with Finny's things. I walked in and gave him his suitcase. Our conversation started out lightly, and then he began to talk about the war. I found out the reason he hated the war was because he had asked every military if he could join, and he was rejected. He started to cry and I joked that he would mess up the war because he would be switching sides so much. Eventually, I had to go, so that Phineas could have his bone set. When I came back, Dr. Stanpole told me Phineas had died. His bone marrow had gone to his heart and stopped it. I couldn't think of anthing to say; I was speechless. I was sad about Finny, but I didn't cry, because it felt as though, this was my own funeral, and I wasn't going to cry.

Chapter 11

The book I read to Finny in Latin.

On my way back, I only wanted to see Phineas. The only problems with him, were between sports. When I got back, he was in the middle of a snowball fight. He told me to come join. Even if you do have a lousy aim" (145), he said. I joined Finny's team, but he switched to the enemies side, and mixed up the teams so badly, that we all just decided to go against Finny. It was so much fun. Later that night, Brinker came in to my room. He and Finny asked about Leper. I told them that he had gone crazy and that he cries a lot. Later Brinker pulled me aside and wanted tot tell Finny that he was different then us. I thought it was a horribel idea and stormedo ut of the room. After chapel, Finny told me he had seen Leper hding in the bushes, as I read Julias Caesar to him in Latin. Later that night, Brinker and some other people showed up in our room and brought us to the assembly room. They started to investigate the day that Finny fell out of the tree. I didn't want Finny to know that I had moved the branch, so I denied having been up in the tree. Brinker started to say that it was a shame that Leper wasn't there, because he would remember everything. I was shocked when Finny told everyone that Leper was at the school. When he came back with Leper, I started to get nervous. He explained the story with a bunch of nonsense in between. "The one holding on to the trunk sank for a second, up and down like a piston, and then the other one sank and fell" (168). This was the worst piece of information, because it was true and Finny now knew. Before I knew it, Finny was out of his chair and saying he didn't care about this anymore. He was crying and this surprised me because I had never seen him ever cry. I felt horrible and called after him. All of a sudden, we heard Finny falling down the marble staircase.

Chapter 10

Leper and I took a walk through here.

After receiving the note from Leper, I made the journey to Vermont to see him. When I arrived at his house, he welcomed me into the dining room, because he wanted to talk in a room where he spends most of his time, unlike the living room. "You aren't lost for something to do in dining rooms" (133). The way he put it made sense, but also made him seem a little crazy. Eventually Leper got to talking. He told me how he escaped and accused me of thinking he was "psycho". I did not like this word and it angered me. Leper also explained how he was stationed to Section Eight discharge and didn't like this because that's where they send the crazy people. We started fighting about this position in the army and Leper finally told me, "You always were a savage underneath" (137). He then accused me of pushing Finny out of the tree and at this, I got angry. I kicked his chair and he fell onto the ground. "Laughing and crying he lay with his head on the floor and his knees up" (137). His mother ran down the stairs and explained how he was ill. I wanted to go, but I felt guilty, so I stayed for lunch. I also ate a few helpings of food and decided that this had helped Leper's mother accept my apology. "He's a good boy underneath, a terrible temper, no self-control, but he's sorry and he is a good boy underneath" (138). Deep down, however, I knew that Leper knew the truth. After lunch, we took a walk and he continued talking about the war. He had really gone crazy. He talked about how he saw faces on other people, and someone's mop turned into a limb. All of the sudden, he started to cry. "Hoarse, cracking sobs" (140). I wanted him to stop and I wanted to leave. He told me about his backwards schedule and how he ate and slept when he normally wouldn't have. After telling me about the faces changing, I lost it. I wanted to leave. "I didn't care because it had nothing to do with me" (143). Who was I becoming? I didn't know anymore and I felt like a stranger in my own body.

Chapter 9

A few days ago, we all got back from Christmas break. A recruiter from the United States ski troops came in, and convinced Leper to join. All of us were completely shocked, because Leper was the last one to ever enlist in the war. "Nothing tainted these white warriors of winter as they swooped down their spotless mountainsides, and this cool, clean response to war glided straight into Leper's Vermont heart" (116). Leper was the first student at Devon to go to the war and I couldn't help feeling that if someone like Brinker, had gone, then it would have made a bigger impact on all of us. Whenever we would read in the newspaper about something happening in the war, we would joke that it was Leper that was making everything happen. I am honestly scared, but I cover it up with jokes, because everyone else seems to be doing the same thing. Weekends during the winter, are boring. Sunday is the worst however, and Phineas is the only one who can see that. Because of all of this boredom, Finny planned a winter carnival, "And because it was Finny's idea, it happened as he said, although not as easily as some of his earlier inspirations" (121). Also, after I told Brinker I was not enlisting, he changed his ways. He quit all of his clubs and stopped wearing his nice clothes. The carnival was a huge success and we played games, drank hard cider and had a decathalon. Towards the end of the day, Brownie Perkins brought me a telegram from Leper, telling me that he had escaped and needed his help.

Chapter 8

It's Finny's dream for me to win the Olympics.

The first thing that Finny said to me when I walked in, was, "I can see I never should have left you alone" (95). This was refreshing because Finny was acting like himself, and joking. He continued to make fun of the way I was dressed and then began to complain about how there were no maids at the school. I explained to him that there was a war going on but Finny did not see the point I was trying to make. We seemed to be growing farther and father apart with our outlooks on the war. When we woke up in the morning Brinker came in, so that we could go enlist in the army. I was surprised to see, "Phineas was shocked at the idea of my leaving" (100). I felt all of the sudden, compelled to tell Brinker that I wasn't enlisting, and that it was a crazy idea to do so. We also, after years of trying to do so, came up with a nickname for Brinker, which was "The Yellow Peril". Days later, I was still shocked that Finny was so frightened by the idea that I would be leaving him, and that he had chosen me, as his only true friend.
As Finny walked up to his first class back, he decided he wasn't ready to, and we skipped. We ended up in the locker room. He asked me to chin myself a few times and asked about the sports teams I had joined. When I told him that I didn't sign up for any teams, especially because of the war, that there wouldn't be many trips, he was outraged. He couldn't believe that I still believed in the war. He told me that "fat old men" made up the war, like they made up the Depression and Prohibition. I was mad about this, but of course Phineas always has to be right. We continued to argue, and I started to chin myself. When I did it, Finny was so proud and he told me that he had been training for the Olympics. We haven't discussed the fight ever since. It was then that Finny decided he would train me for the Olympics. "And not believing him, not forgetting that troops were being shuttled toward battlefields all over the world, I went along, as I always did, with any new invention of Finny's" (109).
After a while, I began to question the war myself. Finny also started training me for the Olympics. When I first started training, I would get winded and tired, but lately I've been fine. It feels good to be in shape. "It was as though my body until that instant had simply been lazy, as though the aches and exhaustion were all imagined, created from nothing in order to keep me from truly exerting myself" (112). On our way back from training we ran into Mr. Ludsbury, who laughed at us when Finny told him about the 1944 Olympics. After he walked away, Finny and I laughed about how he believed in the war. In some way, I pitied Mr. Ludsbury.

Chapter 7

The trainload of soldiers we saw, while shoveling the train tracks.

The other day, Brinker Hadley came across the hall, and congratulated me on my influence. This was strange, because he was one of the busiest people in the school. It shocked me, when he said, "I'll bet you knew all the time Finny wouldn't be back this fall. That's why you picked him for a roommate, right?" (79). I laughed this off and tried to change the subject. After I had had enough, I suggested that we go down to the butt room and have a smoke. When we got down there, Brinker made a point of telling everyone about my pretend scheme of getting rid of my roommate. I knew that when I told the story of what happened, they would listen to everyword I said, and believe it. Because of this, I told them an outrageous story. The joke finally got unbearable and I left.

As the war continued, jobs started popping up for the students at Devon. One of these jobs was picking apples. The only good thing is that we get paid. This year, it snowed early, and we were hired to shovel out the railroad tracks, for the troops to get through. Everyone signed up, except for Leper. As I was walking to the job, I saw Leper standing in the woods on skis. When I asked him why he wasn't going down any of the hills he explained, "I just like to go along and see what I'm passing and enjoy myself" (87). I thought this was weird, but then again, so is Leper. He also told me that he was going to find a beaver dam along the river. Shoveling the snow was so much more tedious than picking apples, and the only enjoyable part of the day was when a group of soldiers came by on the train. They were close to our age, but looked more special than we did. As we walked home, Brinker talked about joining the army. We agreed to enlist together and I saw it in a certain way. "I owed it to myself to meet the crisis in my life when I chose, and I chose now" (93). I was excited to enlist in the army, but little did I know as I walked into my dormitory, that Finny was sitting there, back to school.

Chapter 6

The phone I used to talk to Phineas on.

Coming back to Devon was weird. It felt like we had never left. We went back to the same teachers and started the year by going to chapel. This sermon was saying, "If you broke the rules, then they broke you" (66). This, however, seemed laughable, because during the summer session, we had our own rules. A few days ago, for my first appointment of the session, I was supposed to report to the Crew House. When I got there, Quackenbush was waiting. He was in charge, and something about him rubs me the wrong way, so I was not happy when he gave me an attitude about being late. He then told me to get him towels. Later in the day, we started to argue. It was mostly because he was talking about how I wasn't doing enough in school. He told me to, "Go to hell" (70). As this was going on, I realized that noone really likes him, and it has been that way since he has been at Devon. I was actually pitying him for this, but then I realized that I was really angry at him because he didn't know anything about the summer session and did not understand it. The final straw, however, was when Quackenbush called me maimed. This made me punch him in the face, and we began fighting, trying to throw the other over the bridge we were on. This only caused us both to fall over and the fight was over. I then felt as though I was Finny's defender. Because I'm the one that crippled him, I need to make sure that noone will say anything like that, which could hurt Finny when he gets back. After our fight, I saw someone walking up to me, telling me I had a phone call. As I was walking, Mr. Ludsbury came up to me, asking about the "gaming" that went on during the summer. Of course, I played dumb, but it didn't stop him from telling me I had been "slipping" throughout the year. When I got on the phone, I was surprised to hear Finny. He was calling to see if anyone had been put in my room, in place of him. He said he had been having a little doubt, and just wanted to make sure that he was wrong. "Roommates are roommates. Even if they do have an occasional fight" (75). This made me assure him that I wouldn't let anyone else take his place. After that was all cleared up, he asked me what sports I was trying out for. I told him that I was assistant crew manager and he was incredelous. It was just that I didn't want to play sports if Finny couldn't. When I told him that "I was too busy for sports" (77), he replied with a simple statement. "Listen, pal, if I can't play sports, you're going to play them for me" (77). It was then that I realized I was going to have to become a part of Phineas.