Summary

Jules recalls a time from his childhood in which he stole something and his father punishes him by making him get on a bus to experience the black population of Cherryville. Dressed in his posh school uniform, his father makes him get off the bus alone so that he has to be surrounded by “them,” the poor blacks that his father despises (367). His father says, “Hope you learned your lesson, son. Fear is your best friend. You stay scared” (368). Returning to the present, Jules is in prison waiting for someone from Vinny’s Italian family to stab him. Later, his father reminds him that he “strutted right into the lion’s den” by moving to the island. (370). Jules sits in his cell and thinks of Latin plant names to calm himself.

A factoid about gypsy moth predators interjects before the next subsection...