Chapter 5 Summary

As Chapter Five opens, Eddie says, "I wanted to sprint straight into the future, but I kept going in circles. With a dirty face and hands curled into fists, I went back to Holmes playground" (69). Holmes playground is a playground where local gangsters hang out, the younger kids sniff glue from paper bags to get high, and most of the kids are always looking for trouble. Eddie goes here looking for Angel, but instead finds Samuel and a few other younger boys who want to make trouble with Eddie. Eddie also sees Coach, who requests Eddie's assistance with painting the lines on the field for that night's softball game.

While Eddie is doing the lines for Coach, Samuel and some of his friends start kicking the lines and messing them up. Then they flash knives at Eddie as if to threaten him. Eddie...