Son of a Trickster

In a dream, Jared swims with wild orcas and then appears on a fishing boat with the old woman he met along the highway. He asks her about the “monster showing through” (188), and she clarifies that it is magic that she does not “let out.” She wants to make plans to talk with him because she assumes Jared is “one of [them], but [he doesn’t] know it yet” (189). She tells him she will see him soon, and then the orcas start speaking to him from the water.

At school the next day, Jared tries to tell Sarah and George about his dream, but Sarah assumes it was a sexual fantasy about an actress and does not want to hear it.

Jared returns home to an immaculate house and finds his mom plucking every hair from her face because she “can feel things crawling in the roots” (192). Assuming she is high, he tries to stop her, but when she does not let him, he leaves the house.

After school, Jared’s inner voice tells him to “trust the universe” and get some pizza (193), even though he has no money. The old woman from his dreams is waiting for him at Pizzarama when he arrives and introduces herself as Jwa’sins. 

She assumes Jared “must be very special” because she “[doesn’t] normally share dreams with humans” (194). She offers him pizza and root beer, assuring him that she is not a witch and will not poison him. Though she cannot read his mind, she explains that he gets “very noisy” when he is feeling emotional and was able to “hear him” from miles away. She tells him a story of a shaman with two sons, one of whom was tortured by spirits. Jared tells her he has never seen a ghost because he does not believe in them, and she finds this “reassuring.” Before she leaves to tend to her “large, close family,” she hands him her phone number, urging him to call her if he ever does see one, because she can “be [his] guide” (196). Alone, Jared argues with his inner voice, unable to figure out how he ended up at Pizzarama. He is shaken by the encounter and wants to forget it, but his inner voice tells him: “You played her just right” (198).

Nana Sophia is eager for Jared to spend the summer with her, which Jared still has not told his mom about. He realizes that when he does, though, she will probably be too high to care: “He was running a distant second to whatever she was using, so far back it was like they weren’t even running in the same race” (200). After helping Mr. Jaks with some yard work, everyone rests in the living room, and Jared “wanted to stay here, in the quiet moment, when everything was calm and everyone was safe” (202). 

That night Richie and Maggie text Jared simultaneously: Maggie explains that her cleaning spree of the house was a result of her being “possessed” by her mother, while Richie tells him about his “tweaker” brother, reassuring him that Maggie’s addiction is not as bad as it could be. Maggie shares some details of her mother’s difficult past and stresses she never wanted to scare Jared away. Jared feels conflicted: “He didn’t want to be a sucker, but he didn’t want to be alone. Everything ached and all the choices felt wrong” (202). At home, Maggie is struggling through her withdrawals from going “cold turkey” and reminds Jared how much she loves him.