Noughts And Crosses

The narrative returns to the present, and Sephy suspects there is a reason why Callum asked her to remember the picnic at Celebration Park. She admits she resents Callum making her feel “ashamed of myself a lot recently” (121). As a result of her relationship with Callum, Sephy becomes more aware of the inequalities noughts face in their society. Callum points out that winter is on the way, and Sephy understands it to mean that they will be seeing each other less in the coming months. Callum asks Sephy who attacked her. Though she initially resists, she eventually reveals the names of her attackers to Callum.

Callum arrives home and discovers Jude and Lynette in the middle of an argument and their father attempting to separate them. Lynette is having another episode, and Jude derides her for thinking she is a Cross. Callum defends Lynette, so Jude attacks him. Their father pulls the boys apart, and when Jude tells him to “get lost” (122), he slaps Jude, which is the first time he has struck any of his children. Enraged, their father reveals that three noughts attacked Lynette and her secret Cross boyfriend three years ago, around the time their mother was fired from the Hadley residence. Lynette spent two weeks in the hospital recovering from the attack; even now, she is traumatized and sometimes can’t accept she is of the same people as those who attacked her. He demands Jude leave her alone. Jude agrees. They discover Lynette’s hands are bleeding from hitting them on a broken mirror. She becomes confused and asks where her Cross boyfriend Jed is, believing she is still 17 years old. Lynette eventually flees to her room, leaving Jude, Callum, and their father lost and confused.

Sephy asks her mother if she can have a birthday party for her 14th birthday. Her mother agrees. She reflects on the lack of connection between her and her mother. She details how her mother drinks too much and never chooses birthday presents for Sephy, having her secretary do it instead. Sephy hints at a surprise at her birthday party “that would ensure that my birthday party was talked about and remembered for ages to come” (134). She feels the surprise will expose the hypocrisy of the Crosses.

Callum listens to his mother and father argue about the General, “the anonymous head of the Liberation Militia” (136), and whether it is acceptable for noughts to reappropriate the racial slur blanker. Sephy has initiated their secret call system to let him know she will be calling, so Callum waits for Sephy to call him in the early hours of the morning. She invites Callum to her birthday party in two weeks. After their call, Callum questions why Sephy invites him to her party when she knows it will cause trouble. Sephy also questions her decision to invite him and struggles to fall asleep. She wants him there as her friend, but she knows it will cause a scene.

Callum’s history teacher Mr. Jason attempts to shame him for being a nought in front of the class by claiming that all the great inventors and thinkers were Crosses. When Callum counters this claim by providing examples of nought explorers and scientists, Mr. Jason asks why he has never heard of these people if it is true. Callum points out the lack of representation for noughts in textbooks, and Mr. Jason loses his temper, claims Callum is lying, and sends him to the headmaster. He overhears Mrs. Paxton, a kind teacher, demanding the headmaster protect the nought students who are being bullied. He refuses and refers to them by a derogatory name. Mrs. Paxton emerges from the headmaster’s office and asks Callum what he is doing. He tells her about the conflict in his history class and how unfair it is that no nought accomplishments are taught. She comforts Callum and reassures him that “Mr. Jason doesn’t want to see you fail any more than I do” (150). When Callum doubts this, Mrs. Paxton reveals that Mr. Jason’s “mother was a nought” (150).

Sephy and her sister Minnie listen to their father and mother arguing after dinner. Her father reveals their mother refused to take in his son from another relationship and raise him as their own. He also proclaims that he will be moving out of the home to live with a woman named Grace, and he will announce their separation after the next election. Sephy runs out of the house and down to the beach. She is relieved to find Callum there. Sephy confesses to Callum that she invited Callum to her birthday party “to upset Mum and my so-called friends […] to hit back at all of them” (155). She disinvites Callum to her party because she wanted him to come “for mostly the wrong reasons” (155). He is thankful, and they agree to do something together later for her birthday.

Lynette enters Callum’s room. They talk about school and Callum’s ambitions. Lynette asks Callum if he thinks “being someone or making a difference” is more important to him (159). Lynette is surprised when Callum answers that being someone important will offer him respect. She expresses that life feels pointless to her and that noughts “might as well be robots” (160). She says, “I miss being insane” (160), because being sane forces her to grapple with the realities of the world. Callum responds to Lynette with optimism, but she does not believe him and warns him to be careful with his ambition.

Sephy comes to her sister’s room to find she has been crying. The siblings discuss whether they believe their parents will actually divorce. Minnie reveals that she knew about their brother and their about mother’s affair three years ago.

Callum confronts Mr. Jason about his low grade on his midterm. Callum’s grades up until this point do not warrant the low grade, and he feels Mr. Jason is punishing him simply because he is a nought. He unveils that he knows Mr. Jason is half nought. Mr. Jason denies it and demands he never repeat the accusation. He tells Callum he is thankful not to be a nought and leaves. Callum feels Mr. Jason’s extreme reaction confirms that it is true.

Sephy sees Callum in the hallway at school and runs up to him to tell him about her brother. Callum snaps at her and storms off with an expression that Sephy feels mirrors Mr. Jason’s.

Callum eats dinner with his family. His mother questions them about the awkward tension she senses in the family. To everyone’s surprise, Lynette declares that she wants to go on a walk by herself, so she goes upstairs for something and then leaves. The whole family watches her go. Callum’s father tells Callum’s mother about the fight between Jude and Lynette. She admonishes the family for fighting. She and Jude begin to fight. Jude reveals that he feels neglected because he was forced to give up his education when they couldn’t afford it after Meggie was fired from the Hadley’s, but they had managed to find the money for Callum to go to school. Jude feels his parents care more for Lynette and Callum than for him, so he starts to leave the house but there are police officers at the front door when he opens it. They inform the family that Lynette has died after she “walked right into the path of an oncoming bus” (175). The officers believe she was distracted by her thoughts, but Callum’s mother believes she walked in front of the bus on purpose because of all the things the boys had said to her during the fight. Callum blames himself because he saw the grief in Lynette’s eyes but said nothing.

Sephy and her sister discover their mother unconscious on the floor with “a tablet bottle by her side with a few scattered pills on the carpet” (178). Her mother has tried to kill herself, so they call for an ambulance.

Callum is in shock over Lynette’s death. He discovers a letter addressed to him from Lynette under his pillow. In the letter, she admits that she has decided to walk in front of a bus, writing, “I don’t want to live in a world where what I am isn’t good enough, where nothing I do will ever be good enough because I’m a nought” (180). He tears up the letter and proclaims he hates Lynette for giving up. He vows never to give up.

Sephy and Minnie wait at the hospital. Their father’s secretary arrives and scolds them for not calling her first. The story of their mother’s overdose and their father’s affair has leaked to the public because the girls used a landline to call for the ambulance, allowing the press or anyone else to hear the sensitive information. Juno denies Sephy and Minnie’s claim that their mother attempted suicide, stating instead that it was just an attention-seeking act. Juno then attempts to make phone calls to conduct damage control with the press. Minnie destroys Juno’s phone in retaliation, and the two exchange insults before the sisters march away.

Callum is distraught over Lynette’s death and takes a walk before the funeral. He vows never to tell his family his sister’s death was not an accident. When he returns to the house, many people have gathered to pay their respects. Callum watches his father speaking solemnly to two men in a corner. The men place something in his father’s hand that he then places in his pocket. Callum’s mother saw the men his father was talking to and began angrily pushing through the crowd to get to them when everyone stops talking. Sephy has arrived at the funeral to offer her condolences to Callum’s parents. While his mother is polite, his father is terse. Jude confronts Sephy, feeling her sympathy is not genuine and that her wealth and privilege is insulting to the family when she was never around to help during any hardships. Another man is pointed out and Sephy realizes it is her old chauffer, who is angry her spoiled attitude caused him to get fired when she insisted he drop her off a block from school that first day. When Sephy’s mother saw her on the news broadcast without the driver anywhere around to protect her, she fired him. Jude shoves Sephy in anger. Callum’s father tells Sephy to leave. Callum attempts to intervene, but he is held back. Callum notices a change in his father that “[s]cared the living daylights out of me” (191).

Chapter 41 swings back to Sephy’s point of view, and she explains she went to the funeral to show she really cared. Her mother’s attempted suicide made her believe she understood the grief they were experiencing, but no one wanted her there. She feels she keeps failing to connect with Callum and that each time she tries things get worse.

Callum meets Sephy at the beach later that day. She apologizes and he expresses that he understands why she came. He hesitates when she wants him to put his arm around her, but he eventually relents. They sit and watch the waves together.