Free Lunch

Rex laments that his mother takes him and Ford to McDonalds several times a week. When he complains that the food is starting to make him sick, Luciana calls him ungrateful and says he doesn’t know anything. When she takes Rex to McDonalds again the next night, Rex wonders why, and she snaps at him. Rex notices his mother paying with a coupon instead of cash at the register, and later, overhears her making a false complaint to the McDonalds manager over the phone in order to get another coupon. When McDonalds vouchers arrive in the mail, Rex questions his mother, but she defends herself by saying she’s owed something from rich companies. Rex feels as though he’s “stealing food right off the counter” (65) and realizes it isn’t only his school lunches that are free.

Rex sits by himself at lunch and watches as his old friends sit together, all wearing their football uniforms. He is soon approached by a boy he knew from elementary school, and another girl he doesn’t know. They invite him to eat with them, and Rex realizes they’re a religious group and politely declines. When the girl asks Rex about his acceptance of Jesus, Rex starts to laugh, and admits that while he likes the idea of Jesus and God, he isn’t certain what he believes. He doesn’t think the Christian version of God loves him, because his life is full of misfortune. This upsets the girl, but the boy tells Rex that he can sit with them any time. Rex considers praying from now on, but not before he eats: “Usually when I’m hungry, praying doesn’t seem all that important” (72).

Rex walks with Benny’s older brother, who tricks him into tripping on the sidewalk when he tells him that stepping on cracks will break his mother’s back. Rex panics and falls, scraping his knee. When he reaches home, he finds Ford alone, which makes him angry, but then he finds his mother sobbing in her bedroom. She crawls into Rex’s lap, demanding that he tell her that he loves her. Rex obliges and studies his mother’s bruises. He feels a passionate hatred for Sam for hurting her. Suddenly, Luciana stops crying and looks up at Rex with childlike innocence. She starts talking about laundry, confusing and startling Rex. When she sees the scrape on his knee, she starts laughing before crying again. Rex notes that no matter how much time passes, he still can’t make sense of his mother’s shifting moods, and wishes he had a mother who took care of him, rather than one who needs taking care of.

Rex is doing homework on a Saturday when he’s disturbed by a large wasp. It continuously flies at the same closed window, trying to escape, and never noticing the many open windows and door around it. Rex watches the insect, frustrated by its stupidity. When he returns home later that night, he finds the wasp dead, and blames himself for not doing more to help it escape. He buries it in the yard and thinks about how it was “stuck, bouncing against the glass, trying to get outside to the sunshine and the rest of the world” (81). He dreams of being the wasp trapped behind glass, and awakes to several cockroaches on him. Rex screams, and when his mother and Sam run in, more insects scurry to the corners of the room. Luciana yells about moving, but Sam says they can’t afford it. When Luciana gives Rex a hug and they share a brief laugh together, Rex feels as if he’s seeing his real mother. Rex struggles to fall back asleep. The next day in class, he learns that if a nuclear war took place, only cockroaches would survive.

On Halloween, Rex makes his own costume, as his mother refuses to buy one. This year, he decides to dress as Jason from Friday the 13th, finding an old shirt and pair of pants in a dumpster. He paints them muddy in the art classroom at school, and paints a hockey mask with fake blood. When he shows up to class in his costume, he feels proud and enjoys the anonymity of the day. Late in the afternoon, Rex runs into Liam, who compliments him on his costume. When Liam suggests hanging out, Rex agrees, but then watches as Liam makes fun of a girl’s costume as she walks by. Rex joins in the laughter, hoping to fit in, but feels terrible for hurting the girl’s feelings. When the principal appears and demands that both boys apologize, Rex readily does so, but Liam refuses, acting proud as he continues to insult the girl. Afterward, the girl tells Rex that her costume was purchased on a budget, and Rex feels even worse than he did before.

When the lunch lady struggles to remember Rex’s name two months into school, he becomes frustrated and thinks about all of the horrible things he wants to say to her. He knows these thoughts are wrong and reflective of his home life: “It’s almost like the stuff that happens at home gets in my head like an infection” (94). As Rex eats lunch alone, a boy sits across from him and starts a conversation. The boy voices his distrust of school and the government. Rex finds the boy strange and questions his kindness. When the boy introduces himself as Ethan and brings up X-Men comics, Rex is intrigued. Ethan explains that the X-Men each have a superpower that makes them a mutant, and Rex thinks about how convenient it would be to be invisible or teleport. When he questions Ethan’s kindness, Ethan compliments Rex’s skepticism and offers to lend him a comic. He invites Rex to eat with him tomorrow, and Rex agrees.