The Bone People

The chapter opens with Simon having a nightmare and getting beaten up by Joe. When the boy gets a letter from his teacher to take home the following day, Simon leaves school early and goes to Binny Daniels’s place hoping to get money out of him. The old man, however, is dead, with flies buzzing around the corpse.

Simon feels sick at the sight of the dead body and goes to Kerewin looking for comfort. The artist, however, is not welcoming and tells him not to come anymore as Joe would not be happy. She also asks after one of her knives, accusing him of stealing it. Simon did take it but wants to deny it and pretends to be angry. Doing so exacerbates his emotional turmoil, and he keeps hearing the buzzing flies. Kerewin does not back down, so Simon throws a punch at her. Instinctually, the artist returns the hit, making him fall over. The boy tries to hit her twice more, but she manages to move out of the way, not wanting to hurt him. In retaliation, Simon kicks her guitar, breaking it in the middle, and Kerewin shouts at him to get out.

Simon leaves, and later the police report that he has caused a lot of damage in the town and that Joe will have to pay it all off if he does not want the authorities involved. The officers also tell Joe that there has been a complaint at the welfare office. Realizing how serious the situation is, Joe becomes enraged and decides to punish Simon. He calls Kerewin first, but she is still angry and hurt by the loss of her guitar, and she tells Simon over the phone that she hates him and hopes Joe will beat him up. After the conversation is over, Joe brings out his belt and tells Simon that he has “just ruined everything” (308). The man begins hitting him, and Simon struggles. Eventually, Joe shoves him against a door frame, and the boy hits back with a glass shard before blacking out.

This chapter focuses on the aftermath of Simon’s beating. Kerewin is deeply disappointed both by Joe’s and by her own behavior toward the boy. She decides to leave the town after seeing Simon in the hospital and being told that he will most likely suffer long-term consequences due to a brain injury. In an attempt to help Joe, Kerewin goes to the Gillayley house to clean up, as Joe is also at the hospital due to the stab wound he received. While tiding up, Kerewin feels a lump in her stomach for the first time.

After being discharged from the hospital, Joe has to wait around before appearing in court since it is unclear whether Simon will survive. Joe visits Kerewin, offering his help with packing, expecting her to reject him. Kerewin, however, does not send him away. She still thinks of him as a friend but is deeply disappointed and saddened by the entire situation.

While preparing to leave, Kerewin works on an art project. She creates three heads out of clay, representing the three protagonists. The heads are entwined by their hair. Eventually, Kerewin gets a phone call notifying her that Simon has woken up and is out of danger. However, it remains unclear how much he understands and whether there will be long-term mental damage. Before leaving the town, the artist burns her tower down.