Chapter 31 Summary

Paul is thrown in jail. His cellmate, Harold, is a black man in jail for destroying a public service announcement machine outside his house. The machine had a motion detector, and it activated every time someone walked by, even in the middle of the night. The machine loudly and annoyingly dispensed usually inappropriate and inane advice, like telling stray dogs not to drink and drive. Harold chooses to serve jail time instead of apologizing for breaking the machine.

Paul hears Morse code from the cell next to him. He finds that Garth is in the next cell. Garth was the one who destroyed the oak tree. He explains that he did it because his son failed his college entrance exams again. The men at the Meadows were horrified when they found out Garth had done it and promised him all kinds of punishment...