Reality Boy

At Gerald’s meeting with Roger, he tries to avoid telling him about his confrontation with Jacko at the boxing gym. He decides to tell him about dating Hannah. Roger tells him to be careful as the calm he feels is “temporary” (188). This puts Gerald in a bad mood because Roger’s taken away his excitement about Hannah. He gradually reveals that he was involved in a fight at the gym, which prompts Roger’s intrigue. Roger seems almost delighted and asks to see Gerald’s bruises. He tells him that in a fight, “I’d put money on you any day” (190).

At home, Tasha teases Gerald about having a girlfriend. She learns about this through Danny, whose friend is Hannah’s brother. Gerald denies that he and Hannah are dating. Before he leaves for school, he asks his mother for a prepaid gas card for his birthday so that he can save up for college. Gerald’s mother thinks the request comical, which bothers Gerald. He believes that his mother does not want him to succeed in life for Tasha’s sake.

At school, Gerald is reading Romeo and Juliet and finds that he understands the text very well. It frustrates him to know that others think he has a learning disability despite his abilities. When Hannah comes by and finds him distracted, she expresses that he can be hard to talk to sometimes because he “[goes] off in [his] little world” (194), just as he would often do when he was younger. Gerald takes offense to her references to his childhood self, which she has only witnessed on television. When she insists on what she has seen of him on television, he storms off, calling her a “fucking brainwashed moron” (195).

While he drives them home, Hannah confronts Gerald after school for calling her a moron. He does not apologize, which prompts her to write the word “asshole” on his dashboard. He makes her leave so that they can both head to work at the PEC Center separately.

At the PEC Center, it is Dollar Night, meaning patrons can buy any item for a dollar. It is a hectic work night since many people come for the deal. Hannah and Gerald work together despite the tension between them. When Beth addresses this tension, they argue again about Gerald’s difficult disposition. Hannah insists that she was only “Telling [him] the truth” (200). Gerald decides to take the “high road” (201), a lesson he learned from Roger, and explains to Hannah that her comment bothers him because many people assume to know him based on what they saw on Network Nanny. He wants their relationship to be based on a different dynamic and asks her to apologize for vandalizing his car.

As Gerald is closing the PEC Center, he runs into the kind customer who intervened when Nichols was antagonizing him. Gerald reveals to her that his birthday is coming soon, and he cannot wait to leave home. The stranger wishes him well, saying, “I’m so glad you made it,” as well as “I had my doubts” (205). Moved by this encounter, he meets Hannah outside of the PEC Center where she is waiting for him. Before they talk, he receives a call from Joe Jr. who wants to know if he can stay with Gerald if he decides to run away from the circus. They agree to keep talking at another time. When Gerald returns to Hannah, they both apologize for communicating poorly with each other. Hannah expresses that she wants to have “a nice relationship” (209). Gerald feels good about this until he drops her off. He starts to feel like an “asshole” (211) when she leaves. Later that night, he watches a link that Joe Jr. sent him of himself doing an acrobatic routine on a trampoline with his brother.

Gerald visits Gersday again and fantasizes about speaking to Snow White, who is a guidance counselor in his imagination. He explains to her that he wants to leave SPED so that he can take regular classes and eventually go to college. Snow White tells him that it is “totally possible” (212).

When Gerald returns to reality, he meets up with Hannah on their way to the PEC Center for their shift. He realizes that he has forgotten his work pants. He is reluctant to take Hannah to his house to retrieve a pair of pants and suggests going to the mall instead to buy a new pair. She convinces him to go to his house together. To avoid another argument, he brings her home and retrieves his pants quickly, but not before his mother catches him from the window as he drives away.

During the filming of the second episode of Network Nanny, the producers decide to record a scene with Tasha and the neighbor boy that Gerald saw her in bed with. Gerald reveals to everyone that he saw Tasha having sex with him, which immediately raises concerns. Tasha tells people not to listen to Gerald since he is “retarded” and “gay” (218). The comment makes the Network Nanny angry, and she organizes an intervention with the family to explain that Tasha has been the problematic child the entire time. The director is impatient with Gerald’s family because he wants them to resolve their issues before the last day of filming. Nanny gives Lisi an early birthday present of walkie talkies, which she shares with Gerald so that they can communicate with each other. When Gerald and Lisi go off to play, he decides to stay behind to eavesdrop on the conversation that Nanny is having with his parents. During this conversation, Gerald’s mother reveals that she had a breakdown when Lisi was born and then could no longer handle any more affection for her children beyond Tasha. She admits, “[Gerald and Lisi will] never love me […] And I don’t blame them” (224). Hearing this, Gerald realizes that his mother’s love for him was a “lie” (226).