Summary

The narrator notes that, at about this point in the class, Mr. Johnson wrote the word “KILL” (84) on the chalkboard in the middle of a quote from the American Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Mr. Johnson paused and looked at the board, as if confused as to why he had done so. He then erased the word and continued with the lesson. The narrator had not noticed any of this because he was focused on the story he was composing; he was only informed of Mr. Johnson’s actions after the incident. The narrator continued to compose his story, where Ruth’s father, Mr. Simmons, felt stressed by his demanding job but attempted to remain grateful for all that he had. The narrator notes that Chris DeMatteis, one of the other unwitting hostages, grew up to be a precision tool specialist at a hardware...