Chapter 4 Summary

When the boys tire of kicking the soccer ball in Palmer's yard, they decide to go to the park, a source of more distress for Palmer. Palmer has always hated going to the park, especially the soccer field, and feigns injury to avoid kicking the soccer ball with the boys. While Palmer watches from the sidelines, he is horrified when Henry begins to run around flapping his arms in a birdlike fashion. When Henry falls to the ground, Beans begins to call for a Wringer and Henry and Mutto grip Henry's neck in a fake stranglehold. Palmer's memory reverts to an event three years prior when he experienced a mass pigeon shoot where the necks of wounded birds were twisted to finish the killing the guns did not complete. This memory is so real for Palmer that he runs away from the soccer...