Michael arrives at church to find Father Heaney looking as if he wished he were still in bed too. The church was empty, save for two old women, but they still continued to conduct the mass. Michael could still hear the pleading voice of the rabbi inside his head as he went about his duty.
Notes: The rabbi’s impact on Michael’s life is starting.
While his mother was doing her shift at the Wesleyan Hospital, Michael was lying on the linoleum floor of their flat, warming himself beside a kerosene lamp amidst the cold outside. While reading his comics, the storm has stopped. He dressed himself and went downstairs to meet up with his friends, Sonny Montemarano and Jimmy Kabinsky. They romped in the snow and threw snowballs at each other. Unbeatable Joe, one of their neighbors offered to give them money in exchange for shoveling the snow off of his driveway. The three of them went to a candy store with the dollar that Unbeatable Joe gave them.
An older boy named Frankie McCarthy tried to extort money from the boys, but he was stopped by Mister G, owner of the candy store. Frankie destroyed everything in the store and attacked Mister G, hitting him on the nose. He continued to attack the old guy, and when he was finished, took a pack of Lucky Strikes. Michael didn’t know what to do. He took the nickel from the rabbi and used it to call an ambulance from the pay phone.
Notes: Frankie’s annoyingness is beginning. Also, Michael’s fear has failed him once again. He wasn’t able to help the poor man out.
That evening, as his mother was serving spaghetti for dinner, Michael told her all about what happened at Mister G’s store. He told her about Mister G’s wife panicking and running through the snow to see the commotion. He asked his mom about why people think Jews are bad. She explained to him that it’s because Jews get educated, that’s why people are jealous of them.
He started wondering about the epic stories that his mother would tell him. He thought about how he couldn’t utter a word when Mister G was being attacked. He couldn’t sleep and decided to read up about Jews instead. He read about the Holocaust and started to wonder how the Jewish people in their area escaped the tragic ordeal.
Notes: Michael’s thoughts are starting to get flooded with questions about why Jews are discriminated upon by a lot of people.
Michael met up with his friends and didn’t tell them about the rest of the things that happened when they left him in the store. Over the course of two days, the boys witnessed detectives coming and going through their area. They were looking for Frankie. They continued to shovel snow. Michael told them about the incident he had with the rabbi. Upon hearing this, his friends tried to urge him to see if he can find treasure hidden by the rabbi.
Notes: The ignorance of Sonny and Jimmy are starting to rub off on Michael.
Celis, Christine. "TheBestNotes on Snow In August".
TheBestNotes.com.
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