Prince of Tides

Tom now relates to Susan the finest day of his life. The Miami aquarium has sent a boat, the Amberjack, to fetch Snow, the albino porpoise that Colleton considers its lucky symbol. The community is aghast at the idea, and the state legislature tries to make it a crime to capture a white porpoise in South Carolina waters. The people of Colleton are on a constant lookout for the Amberjack, even tracking its radio signals. Luke gets into action when he spots the boat closing in on Snow. From a bridge over the river, he rallies hundreds of onlookers to throw hard, green tomatoes at the crew, forcing them to retreat.

The retreat of the Amberjack is temporary. The crew docks the boat 40 miles south of Colleton, monitoring the radio waves and waiting for the controversy to cool down before they can approach Snow again. Henry plays a surprise role in the capture of Snow when he tells the crew of the Amberjack that he has spotted a “submerged log” (354) in Zajac Creek. “Submerged log” is the secret code name for the porpoise Henry had worked out with the crew in exchange for $1,000. Snow is captured, and Henry’s family is disgusted by his betrayal.

Luke takes it upon himself to right his father’s wrong. He secretly goes to Florida in the family’s pick-up truck with his siblings, carrying sleeping pills he has stolen from Tolitha’s medicine cabinet. At the Miami Seaquarium, the teenagers offer fried chicken laced with sleeping pills to the night watchman, sedating him. Then they head to Snow’s pool, drug her through tampered treats, and carry her out tied to a stretcher. They place Snow onto wet mattresses in the pick-up truck they keep dousing with water. Soon, with Lila’s help, they return the porpoise to the river at Colleton.

In this chapter, Tom recounts Benji’s integration into Colleton High School. As Benji approaches the school, the waiting crowd of hostile white people hisses racial slurs against him, with an athlete, Oscar Woodhead, even threatening to murder Benji. Tom plans to navigate this tense situation by keeping a low profile and staying away from Benji. Grown-up Tom realizes that by staying passive, he acted racist. His racism arose not from hatred but from a need to conform to the majority. However, Savannah is braver, welcoming Benji openly to the school. When Oscar begins verbally abusing Savannah for talking to Benji, Tom cannot stay out of the quarrel. He reluctantly agrees to fight Oscar after school, which the entire school prepares to watch.

Tom hopes Luke will take his place in the fight, but Luke only forces Oscar to apologize to Savannah and gives Tom pointers on defeating the bigger boy. A terrified Tom follows Luke’s instructions to be light on his feet and move as if dancing; Tom manages to win against Oscar.

During football practice later in the day, Tom tells Benji that he has heard about Benji's speed on the field. The two boys indulge in good-natured banter, and Benji beats Tom’s time on each of his running dashes. Benji’s athletic skills so impress the racist coach that he welcomes Benji to the team. The team forgets about opposing integration and starts dreaming of the state championship with Benji in their ranks.

Tom visits 1961 when he is a 17-year-old quarterback on the Colleton High School football team. It is a halcyon period in the life of the Wingos, with shrimp selling at great prices and Henry being kind to Lila. Savannah, cheerleading for the game, is resplendent in her “off-beat prettiness” (382), and Tom feels a surge of love for her and Luke. Their caged tiger Caesar is the mascot for the team, the Colleton Tigers. Before the game, Luke tells the team that their rivals, North Charleston, will be targeting Benji for his race, but they have to stick up for their teammate. As Luke has predicted, the North Charleston team hurls racial slurs at Benji on the field. The Colleton Tigers rally behind Benji, playing hard to defeat North Charleston. When Colleton wins, Luke gets Caesar to roar, and the crowd roar along with Caesar. After the victory, people cheer for Benji, with Oscar even lifting Benji on his shoulders. Tom presents this as an example of positive race relations.

Luke and Tom are dressed in khakis for the victory dance after the game, for which they get teased. While Luke brushes off the taunts, Tom is affected by the fact that, unlike the other boys, he doesn’t have a sports jacket, even though he is co-captain of the team. He asks Lila to buy him and Luke jackets, but Lila refuses even though the family has made good money this season. Lila’s judgment of him as “selfish” (400) saddens Tom. He questions Lila why Savannah gets to dress in pretty clothes, to which Lila replies that dressing well is a necessity for a girl, so she attracts the right kind of men. Lila doesn’t want Savannah to marry wrong like she did. Lila’s double standards fill Tom with bitterness.

Tom has settled in Savannah’s apartment, paying her overdue bills and repainting it with Eddie’s help. He often searches Savannah’s apartment for clues that may help in her recovery. Tom has the odd feeling Savannah has hidden something enormous from him in the three years they have spent apart. Tom recalls that Savannah always liked keeping secrets and surprising people. She would hide gifts from the family, leading them on a treasure hunt with planted clues. He can see the same streak in Savannah’s writing.

From her recent poems, Tom can see Savannah is outgrowing the South as a subject, dedicating poems now to the Hudson River of New York. In one of her books, he sees a photo of a girl named Renata Halpern. Tom cannot understand her connection to Savannah until he notices several letters at Savannah’s apartment addressed to Renata. He even finds a journal with a poem written by Renata. The writing style of the poem is unmistakably that of Savannah.

Tom starts looking for more of Renata’s writing and finally finds The Southern Way, a children’s book authored by her, at a nearby bookstore. Reading the book, it is obvious it is based on Savannah’s childhood and that Renata is Savannah’s alter ego. Savannah has disguised some of the most horrific events of her childhood as a magical children’s story of terror and rescue. Tom’s narrative now switches to The Southern Way by R. Halpern. The story features a sad, beautiful mother called Blaise, who lives on an island with her three small, beautiful daughters, Rose, Sharon, and Lindsay. Their father is dead. All three girls possess specific magical powers over animals. When three evil men attack their home, the girls summon their beloved animals and natural forces to kill the men. That evening, their father returns home, alive, and the family goes on to lead a happy life.