Summary
Castle is happy that it is Friday, because Friday is always followed by two days off of school. He usually goes to his Aunt Sophie’s with his mother on the weekend, and plays with Sophie’s son, King. Castle comments that he thinks his mother and aunt wanted their kids to have royal-sounding names.
At school, Castle wears his cut-up usual shoes, as the silver ones are just for track. He sees Brandon in the hall, but they both ignore each other. Shamika apologizes for laughing the day before, and over lunch she makes herself the butt of the joke, telling Castle and his friend Dre about times she cut her hair or jeans with bad results. He goes for sunflower seeds at the shop after school. Mr. Charles asks how Castle is doing, making an oblique reference to the day before. Castle thinks about the weirdness of being in the stockroom, and the memory it dredged up, but he says he is okay. Castle proudly tells him about the dinner he’s going to tonight, and reminds him that he’s an athlete on a track team now. Mr. Charles says he’s one of the world’s greatest. Castle agrees.
On his way home, Castle stops at the basketball court to watch the big guys play. There are drug addicts hanging around, some of whom buy their drugs from one of the guys who plays at the court. Castle watches until the usual fight breaks out on the court. At home, he has a quick shower, changes, and puts on some of his mother’s floral perfume.
Coach Brody picks him up. Lu and Patty are already in the car. Patty refers to Castle as "pretty boy," making him have to hide a smile. When the super-tall Sunny gets in the backseat, Castle is embarrassed to have to move over to the middle seat, which is for babies. Jokes follow. The boys crammed together look to the coach like teammates bonding; to Patty, they look like clowns.
Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to drive to the Chinese restaurant, which is on the other side of town, where people have front and back yards and each kid has their own bedroom. Castle is excited when the coach tells the team to pick anything they want on the menu. Castle asks for the Peking duck, which he can’t wait to eat when it comes. The scent does “all kinds of cartwheels and backflips” in his nose.
However, the coach takes everyone’s cutlery and chopsticks, explaining that, as newbies, they first have to tell the others one thing about themselves that most people don’t know. Lu offers to go first, saying he is albino. The others say that’s no secret. Lu tries again, saying he’s always wished he had a brother so he could see what he would look like if he didn’t have albinism. The unexpected vulnerable revelation shocks Castle, but he can sympathize, always having wanted a brother himself.
Sunny goes next, saying that his mother died while giving birth to him. He explains that his father got him into running because it was his mother’s dream to win a marathon. She ran them all the time, but had never won one. She’d planned to get back into training after Sunny was born, but that couldn’t happen, so Sunny carries her legacy. He says he didn’t like running at first, but now he doesn’t mind, and it makes him feel connected to his mother.
As Sunny and Lu eat, Patty volunteers the information that despite being adopted, she knows her mother, and visits her often. She explains that her mother had to give up looking after her and her sister because she has diabetes and had to have both legs amputated. Patty says she runs for her. Coach hands over her silverware.
Castle considers what to say, knowing Coach would get mad if he knew he stole the shoes. He knows adults play by different rules, and some secrets need to be kept from them. Eventually, Castle reasons that because everyone else said such personal things, he may as well tell them his most personal story. Castle then blurts out that his father is in jail because he tried to shoot him and his mother. The others are stunned, but Castle feels good, like the others can “see” him.
Eventually the kids turn the question on their coach. He insists it isn’t about him, but Patty snatches his utensils away until he plays the game too. He is pleased that they are ganging up on him, because it means they are bonding. To get it over with, he says it’s true he ran in the Olympics and won a gold medal. For the rest of the meal, Castle thinks about how good it feels to be a member of the team, and to have got his secret off his chest. The others seemed to care about what he said, but also not to care, making him feel like he is one of them.
Analysis
The themes of camaraderie and humility arise during Castle’s Friday at school. Although she laughed him into a deep sense of shame the day before, Shamika apologizes and attempts to make amends by making herself the butt of the joke. In an act of humility, Shamika relates her own disastrous attempts at modifying her clothing and hair; through this sharing, she cultivates a sense of camaraderie with Castle.
Reynolds next builds on the theme of trust with Castle’s “newbie” dinner with Coach Brody. The newbie runners are excited to eat whatever they want off the Chinese restaurant’s menu, but in an instance of situational irony, they must first reveal something about themself that few other people know.
Castle’s former nemesis, Lu, sheds his cocky front to reveal the sad truth that he has always wondered what he would look like if he didn’t have albinism. Patty reveals the upsetting fact that her mother could no longer take care of her and her sister after having her legs amputated due to diabetes complications. Sunny reveals that he become a distance runner because his father forced him to carry on the ambition of his mother, who gave up her life to give birth to Sunny. Lastly, Castle lets everyone know his father is in prison for trying to shoot him and his mother. It is significant to note that each person on the team has a complicated background that has shaped their identities, not just Castle.
Ultimately, each athlete shares an aspect of themself that they likely think about often and talk about seldomly, as everyday conversation tends not to leave room for such uncomfortable disclosures. These deeply personal stories the runners share expose their vulnerability, as the information could easily be used as ammunition against them if any of the others wanted to shame them. However, the act of sharing personal information requires a sense of trust that cultivates camaraderie among the athletes.
Just as the coach hoped, the runners respond to each other’s revelations with sympathy and understanding. Soon they are “ganging up” on the coach, making him participate in the trust exercise too. By the end of the dinner, Castle reflects that having shared the secret of his trauma has left with an inner calm.
