Red Kayak

The trial takes place three days before Brady is set to enter ninth grade. Brady is intensely uncomfortable as they wait for proceedings to get underway—partly because of the hot weather, partly because he is nervous about testifying, and partly because he's worried about J.T. and Digger.

J.T. and Digger enter the courtroom, along with their families. When the state attorney announces that both boys intend to plead guilty, Brady is shocked, though relieved that he won't need to testify: "I wondered what had come over Digger—I’ll deny it till the day I die!—in the past month. Why didn’t he want to fight it anymore?" (193).

Master Williams asks J.T. and Digger whether they're sure they want to plead guilty. When they confirm that they do, she asks them to explain why. J.T. replies that the charges are true, and Digger begins to protest that J.T. only acted under pressure. Master Williams interrupts, saying they will have a chance to make statements later, and then questions J.T. and Digger about their age and criminal history. After thestate attorneyreads the DiAngelos' victim statement, J.T.'s lawyer makes a statement detailing J.T.'s good record as a son and student. She says that he was not a "willing participant" in drilling holes in the kayak, and that he didn't expect or intent to hurt anyone (196).

Brady finds himself agreeing with J.T.'s lawyer, and wishes he could add his own testimony on his friend's behalf: "I wanted to jump up and tell everybody that sometimes J.T. hauled out of bed at midnight—or 2 A.M.—and worked clear through the night because those chicken buyers collected around the clock" (196). The lawyer concludes, though, by reminding the judge of J.T.'s young age and his father's illness, and Master Williams turns to Digger.

Digger's lawyer describes his character and background, acknowledging that he's only a "fair student" but a "very hard worker" who helps his father by hauling gravel and his mother by taking care of his younger siblings (198). The lawyer further explains that Digger's father has a history of arrest and domestic abuse, and that Digger has "never had a healthy escape valve" for his anger (199). He wraps up by reminding the court that the DiAngelos purchased and tore down a farmhouse formerly owned by Digger's grandfather and explaining that the entire incident was "a practical joke gone bad." (199).Mrs. Griswald then issues a statement, reiterating that Digger is a good son and brother, and saying that she hopes to give him a "fresh start" by moving to live with her sister in Denton (200).

Finally, J.T. and Digger have the chance to speak for themselves. J.T. expresses his remorse over what happened, saying that the consequences of his actions are "something [he] will always carry with [him]" (291). Digger explains that he was angry with the DiAngelos for "rippin’ down [his] grampa’s house and movin’ in there, takin’ away all those things in [his] life that [he] loved so much," but that he understands now that Mr. DiAngelo wasn't to blame (201). He says again that he feels that he alone is responsible for Ben's death, explaining that he threatened to withhold his protection from J.T. at school unless he agreed to help. He also says that Brady played no role in what happened, and asks for his forgiveness.

After a brief silence, Master Williams issues her verdict: she thanks J.T. and Digger for apologizing, but explains that it doesn't excuse their actions. She points to the suffering the boys have caused their own families, along with the DiAngelos, and says that they need to learn from what they've done: "The most important thing you boys need to learn is that what you did was so reckless and so unthinking that a little boy lost his life. One little boy won’t grow up and go to school or ever have a job or a family of his own. Because of what you did…You need to know this. You need to know this for the rest of your life" (204). Finally, she hands down the sentence: nine months working in a forestry camp. Brady is relieved by the light sentence, but still disturbed when he sees his friends being led away in handcuffs.

Brady recaps what has happened since the trial. The DiAngelos have moved to Virginia and are expecting a baby girl. Brady learns from the real-estate agent that Mrs. DiAngelo dug up the butterfly garden; he momentarily fears she destroyed it in anger, but then learns that she simply wanted to take it with her.

Brady's life has largely returned to normal; he spends his time on schoolwork and basketball. He admits, though, that he spends a lot of time thinking about what J.T. and Digger are doing now. He expects their friendship is over, but when he runs into Kate one day, she says that J.T. is going to write to Brady.

Brady's father has cut back on the amount of crabbing he does, but he expects things will pick up again in a few months: "Dad lined himself up a good bit of carpentry work for the winter and started in on it early. Still, he says he’ll haul out those crab pots again in the spring. I can only hope that I will, too" (208). In the meantime, he and Brady are working on building a boat together, which they intend to name after Brady's mother. Brady hopes to take the boat out on the Corsica in the spring: "With any luck, I’ll bet we could sail that little boat all the way down to Queenstown and back in one afternoon" (208).