More Happy Than Not

Three days pass before Brendan talks to Aaron again. He, Brendan, and Thomas watch Me-Crazy fight an older guy in the street. Aaron has been fighting since he was nine. The guy in the fight, whom Aaron calls “Dumb Son of a Bitch,” had insulted Me-Crazy in the pizzeria. They watch as Me-Crazy brutally beats the guy in the street. Thomas insists that someone should break it up, but the others aren’t interested. They hear sirens, and everyone runs away to avoid the police. Thomas and Aaron end up hiding in a garage; Aaron says he’s had to fight a lot in his life because if you don’t fight back, you get hurt. Thomas says he doesn’t want that but that it was a bummer seeing Aaron not care that someone else was being beaten.

A couple of days later, on July 4, the guys talk about setting fireworks off from Thomas’s roof but stay on the ground instead. Aaron has planned a birthday party for Thomas on the 9th and invited all the guys to come. They watch and light fireworks together. Aaron thinks about the fun he had staying up all night at a sleepover at Thomas’s house a couple of days before and wishes Genevieve was home so he could hold her hand.

Aaron and Thomas go around town so that Thomas can apply for jobs at as many places as possible. It’s difficult because Thomas has a history of spontaneously quitting jobs that he’s tired of. They get on the subject of drowning, and Aaron talks about throwing himself in the deep end of the pool to get the shock of cold water over with. In the moment, he says, he was thinking about drawing a scene in his comic where the hero is strong but can’t swim. Thomas reminds Aaron that he promised to let him see his comic. Aaron relents and brings Thomas to his apartment; he expects disgust and pity, but Thomas doesn’t seem to judge. They brainstorm possible solutions for the hero’s ravenous dragon problem.

Thomas returns from the bathroom upset and admits that seeing the bathtub where Aaron’s father killed himself was shocking. Aaron says that his mother found the body and that they didn’t really understand why his father did it. They also talk about Thomas’s absent father, and Thomas says he has hope for both of them. He’s going to teach Aaron how to ride a bike and swim.

Aaron lies awake and thinks about Genevieve coming home the next day. He has something important he wants to talk to her about, but he’s anxious about it so he gives up on sleep and draws instead. He makes quick sketches of his friends and thinks about the mundane things he knows about them. Thomas, he thinks to himself, “likes boys” (104). Aaron just knows, without having to be told, and thinks Thomas might even like him. He’s frightened for Thomas and what could happen if the other guys found out. He crumples the drawing he’s made of Thomas kissing a tall guy.