Wringer

Palmer comes home to find Dorothy in his room. She’s been coming over often since finding out about Nipper. She comes over in secret, so Beans and the other boys don’t find out. Palmer is friends with Dorothy in secret and the boys in the open.

Dorothy is open about her disdain for Beans and the other boys and she and Palmer connect in ways that he could never connect with them. He opens up about his complicated feelings toward his father. He wonders how his father can be such a nice guy and also a shooter. Palmer also finally admits, for the first time out loud, that he doesn’t want to be a wringer. He feels himself growing closer to Dorothy. She makes him “feel floating” (127), like the weightless feeling he felt when he first learned to swim, and she allows him to feel trust.

Palmer is hanging out with the boys when suddenly Nipper lands on his head. He immediately pretends to be shocked and shoos his pigeon away. He tries to brush the whole thing off, but Beans says, “The bird is yours” (134). Palmer is terrified for Nipper and lies, saying he’s going to be the world’s best wringer. He hopes to throw the boys off the trail, but it doesn’t work.

Back in his room with Dorothy, Palmer is scared for Nipper. Now that Beans and the other boys know, Palmer knows his bird will never be safe. He decides he must disguise himself on the way to school so Nipper won’t recognize him. Then he decides he needs to get in trouble every day after school so he won’t have to walk home with the boys.

Palmer continues to get into trouble until the end of school. His reputation for being naughty and unpredictable “boost[s] his popularity with the guys” (145). Dorothy thinks he’s a hero for sacrificing his reputation to save Nipper’s life. But Palmer doesn’t consider himself a hero; he just laments that he was born into the wrong place—a place that kills pigeons.

Wringer school begins, and Beans drags Palmer along. Palmer doesn’t want to do it, but he goes along anyway. Palmer learns all about wringing the necks of pigeons, which causes him to feel “four years old again, at his first Family Fest, with the wounded, loppysided pigeon coming toward him” (157).

Palmer shares his worries and fears with Dorothy. She wonders why he doesn’t just tell everyone he’s not going to be a wringer. She also wonders if he’ll invite her to his birthday party this year. This makes him confront the fact that he’s been living a divided life: “one with Dorothy, one with the guys” (161). He’s also realizing that his friendship with Beans and the boys is no longer about desiring their acceptance; he’s only still friends with them because he’s afraid of what they might do to him if he leaves.

That evening, Palmer’s mother reveals that a big cat was inside their house. He realizes that Beans probably snuck his cat Panther inside to get Nipper.

Dorothy promises to come to Palmer’s tenth birthday party, but she doesn’t show. Beans and the other boys do and are excited to talk to Palmer’s father about his pigeon shooting. Palmer is thankful that no one can find Farquar, which means he doesn’t receive The Treatment this year. That night, Palmer gets into his leftover birthday cake and sees the words “TONIGHT” (167) etched into the icing.