Saturday, November 4

Tired of waiting for another meeting to be held at the tangerine nursery, Paul decides to just go to the nursery. When he gets to the Quonset hut, Tino implies that he should have called first. But, Luis reminds Tino that he, Luis, invited Paul to return. Paul helps them lay out hose in the Golden Dawn tangerine nursery. After doing that for three hours, the three of them take a break, sitting on crates in the adult grove and eating tangerines one after the other. Paul, in response to a question from Tino, says that he likes the smell of the orchards. Luis agrees. Their next job is snipping holes in the hose that they just laid out. They put a hole in the nursery. During the next break, Luis says that Paul is done for today. Paul is sunburned. After a suggestion from Luis, Tino takes Paul into the Quonset hut and applies a spray to Paul’s burned skin.

After calling home for a ride, Paul asks Tino about Theresa. Tino says that she is busy helping their father with paperwork for the business. Then Tino suggests that Paul could do the project report on his computer because Theresa is really busy these days. He adds that it is Theresa’s idea.

Tino tells Paul about how Luis injured his knee when he was twelve. He was clipping tangerines at the time. After that, Luis could no longer go and clip tangerines. That is what led to Luis becoming interested in horticulture. Tino added that Luis played soccer, too. He was a goalie.

Because he notices that Tino is in a good mood, Paul tells him that he is the one who told that Tangerine Middle School soccer players were the ones who wrecked the Ax Man exhibit. After asking Paul to turn his back to him, Tino kicks him and tells Paul to tell his Lake Windsor homeboys what happened when Tino found out.

Sunday, November 5

Tonight Dad, Mom and Paul walk over to Mr. Donnelly’s house, the one with the lightning rods. Mr. Donnelly is interested in football. He has noticed Erik’s talent lately. He wants Erik to meet some football guys that he knows. Mom hopes to find out why Mr. Donnelly has not answered any of the letters she has sent to him from the Architectural Committee. Dad hopes that she doesn’t mention it tonight. Erik isn’t with them as they walk because he has been off somewhere with Arthur. When they get to Mr. Donnelly’s place, Arthur’s Land Cruiser is parked in front, but Paul cannot tell if Erik or Arthur are inside the vehicle.

Mom, Dad, and Paul are attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes and hurry into the Donnelly home as soon as Terry Donnelly opens the door. Erik is already in the house, watching football on the big-screen television. The two men who Mr. Donnelly wanted them to meet are also there. Their names are Larry and Frank.

Mom suggests that Arthur should join them. Erik says that Arthur doesn’t want to come in because he smells like bug spray. The idea of getting Arthur to come inside is dropped.

Later, when Mr. Donnelly sees Paul eying his trophy case, he asks Paul about his sports interests. When he finds out that Paul is on the Tangerine Middle School soccer team, he tells him about his coach, Betty Bright. She was a famous hurdler and could have been even more successful without some bad luck.

When it is time for the family to leave, Mr. Donnelly tells Erik that it was great to meet him. Then, he tells Paul that it was also great to meet him. This surprises the Fishers.

When Erik opens the door of the Land Cruiser, it startles Arthur, who quickly removes something shiny from his dashboard.

Arriving home with Mom and Paul, Dad opens the house by using the garage-door opener in his car, which he first unlocks. About this time, Grandma’s voice can be heard on the message machine.

Something about the scene triggers a suppressed memory for Paul. He remembers Grandmom and Grandpop approaching him in the Fisher garage in Huntsville. They were both noticing that something had happened to his eyes. Mom suggested to Grandmom and Grandpop that they could discuss it later. Paul remembers that, as the rest of the family entered the house, Paul and Erik starred at each other.

Notes
The mention of Arthur smelling like bug spray foreshadows what we will find out while reading Paul’s Sunday, December 3, journal entry.

Tuesday, November 7

Today, in the last home game of the season, Paul scores a goal while playing left wing. As the teams wait for the referee and coaches to confer, a storm blows in, causing a rain delay.

As they wait for the storm to pass, Victor questions the referee. They find out that, if the game cannot continue, there will be no rain-out game. It will be as though the game never happened. Paul’s goal will not count. Twenty minutes later, the referee confirms that today was “no game.”

Coach Bright reminds the team that Friday they play Lake Windsor, the other undefeated team. When Victor mentions Lake Windsor’s tie game against Palmetto yesterday, the coach tells the team to concentrate on their own team.