| Chapter 9: My Will Be Won | Juke wakes up and discovers Dad still is not at home. Ms. Edna has returned but Aminata is gone. Juke gets ready for the school day but is annoyed with Ms. Edna. Juke does not want to take the school bus and drops to the floor and refuses to move. Ms. Edna gets on the school bus and leaves. Mom is now home alone with Juke, and she cries in fear and frustration as Juke’s thinking is disrupted under the stress and medication. |
| Chapter 10: She Aims to Swoop | Mom tries to de-escalate the situation so she can take Juke to school, but Juke refuses to go. Juke sweeps everything off the kitchen and coffee tables. Mom calls Janet, a seldom-used caretaker that Juke dislikes, to come help, and Juke drops to the floor again. An extra dose of medication further distorts Juke’s thinking. |
| Chapter 11: The Internal Questions | Juke’s thoughts begin to cycle in diminishing patterns as he remains on the floor ignoring Janet’s attempts to appease him. Mom tries his favorite songs and foods, but Juke’s mood does not improve. Aminata arrives to check on Juke but must leave again. Juke lunges at Janet but crashes into the stairs and screams in frustration and pain. Juke stays on the floor, ignoring “Blue’s Clues” on tv, and has a bowel movement in his pants, which Mom cleans up. |
| Chapter 12: I Do Not Yet as I Ought to Do | Mr. Gabe, the aide from Juke’s school, arrives and picks up Juke off the floor and sits him in a chair. When Mr. Gabe is distracted on his phone, Juke runs to Mr. Gabe, grabs him by the hair, and slams him into the front door, ripping off Mr. Gabe’s track jacket in the process. Mr. Gabe immediately leaves while Janet steers away from Juke. Juke cannot control his thoughts. In his anxiety about the family, he attacks Mom, grabbing her hair with both fists and pulling her to the floor. Juke clenches her hair and Mom assumes a fetal position so as not to get her hair pulled out. |
| Chapter 13: Fire, Police to the Rescue | Juke holds Mom on the floor by both fists in her hair. Janet repeatedly tells Juke to let go, but Juke can only think of keeping his family together. The family’s pet cats investigate. A fire truck arrives. A firewoman takes Juke by the wrists, but Juke refuses to release his grip as his thoughts completely unravel. A policeman also arrives and argues with the firewoman about what to do, and Janet leaves. |
| Chapter 14: The Terms of Disengagement | Dad returns home from his business trip. Juke lets go of Mom’s hair and sits on the couch. The policeman, firewoman, and Dad discuss whether Juke is a danger to himself and others, but Dad satisfies them that Juke will be fine now that he is home, and the family is together. The authorities leave, but the policeman warns Dad about future incidents. Juke notices the cats continue to go about their business. |
| Chapter 15: The Jacobsen Indictment | Juke eats dinner. The school district social worker in charge of Juke’s case, Mr. Jacobsen, arrives to discuss a potential state-funded, permanent “waiver” for Juke that would pay the costs for Juke to live in a group home with round-the-clock expert care. Juke has been on the wait list for this waiver for 13 years, but Mr. Jacobsen will now escalate the request to “urgent.” He warns the family that receiving a waiver remains highly unlikely. Mr. Jacobsen leaves and the family listens to Juke’s favorite songs. |
| Chapter 16: He Got Waived | In a surprise evening visit, the social services administrator, Ms. Joyce, arrives at the house and tells the family that given recent seriously escalating incidents, Juke has been granted a waiver on her authority, and the 13 year-wait is over. Mom puts Juke to bed. |
