Johnny’s father takes away his motorcycle following the drunken escapade, so he and Tex are stuck riding the school bus. Tex acts out in art class, setting fire to a pile of toothpicks as his project—shouting for the teacher to grade it before it goes up in smoke. His English teacher suggests he might try writing poetry—to which Tex thinks “Holy cow!” and hopes nobody else has heard her (72). The basketball coach berates Tex for not capitalizing on his athletic talent, which leads to a fight with Johnny where Johnny weaponizes Tex’s absent father as an insult.

After a few weeks of not speaking, Johnny’s sister, Jamie, encourages Tex to mend the rift. Tex goes to the gravel pits after to school to see Johnny, who has since gotten his motorcycle back. A group of kids are riding cycles around, and someone dares Johnny to jump the creek. When he balks, Tex decides to try the dangerous feat—hoping it might heal the rift if he could manage it—and he barely manages to make it across. Both boys are hurt in the incident, but as Tex puts it as they leave together, “[w]e both felt fine” (83).