Bluefish

Velveeta writes from the bathroom during lunch. This morning, she went to Calvin’s trailer, but it was locked and she no longer has a key. She left all her scarves in there besides the one she was wearing at the time Sylvia found her. She’s decided to turn Bradley down for the dance. Travis is absent, which worries her.

During reading, Velveeta asked McQueen about Travis’s progress, to which McQueen replied that it’s none of her business and she should worry about herself. She hasn’t been completing homework in most classes, which is going to be a problem long-term. Every time she neglects her schoolwork, her future possibilities dwindle. Velveeta says her future is already planned out, and it’s just a matter of which local bar she’ll waitress at. McQueen says this is only the case if she makes it so.

Instead of returning to school with his late pass from McQueen, Travis walks towards the cornfield where Grandpa buried Rosco. It’s 20 miles away, but he’s determined to make it there before dark. Grandpa finds Travis and offers to take him to the spot where he buried Rosco, which would be impossible for Travis to find otherwise. Travis finally gets in because Grandpa says “please,” which he rarely does; plus, he brought Travis a sandwich, and he’s hungry.

They arrive at the spot, and Grandpa gives Travis time alone to talk to Rosco. Travis misses him dearly. Grandpa returns and says he decided to quit drinking after Travis made him fall over one day on the porch, even though Travis didn’t strike him then. Quitting has been harder than expected. Grandpa still strives to raise Travis better than he raised Travis’s father. Both of them believe that Travis’s father may have crashed his car on purpose. Travis thinks it’s his fault that Rosco’s dead, but Grandpa says it’s not.

Velveeta tells her boss at the library, Connie, about being kicked out of Calvin’s trailer and losing her scarves. Connie says maybe if she apologizes, she can get her scarves back.

Velveeta visits Sylvia, saying she knew Calvin because he looked after her, sort of like an unpaid babysitter. Sylvia asks if Velveeta knew Calvin had a daughter and what he said about her. Calvin said he was a bad father, and Sylvia never forgave him. Sylvia says Calvin was, indeed, a bad father. Velveeta said he wasn’t a bad father to her. Sylvia asks what Velveeta wants; Velveeta wants the scarves back. The scarves belonged to Sylvia’s mother, and she doesn’t understand why Calvin would give them to Velveeta. She tells her to go home before she calls the police. She does not give the scarves back and suspects Velveeta is lying about Calvin giving them to her in the first place.

Velveeta isn’t at school, which worries Travis. After lunch, Travis and Chad throw a few punches but don’t really fight. Chad thinks Travis is “coolio-moolio.” Travis checks with McQueen about upcoming parent-teacher conferences, which it seems like Grandpa might actually attend for the first time. Travis asks McQueen not to tell Grandpa that he can’t really read because Grandpa doesn’t know. McQueen does not promise this but does promise to tell Grandpa that Travis is one of his best students, which makes Travis feel good.

After school, Travis goes to the park and sees the group of high school kids who are normally smoking by the bridge. They’ve got Bradley, who is crying, backed up against a ladder, and they’re laughing at him. Travis goes to Bradley and pretends to be bullying him, too, then leads him away. Travis looks back at the older boys and realizes he left his book behind, and the boys are looking at it. He goes back to get it. Travis and one of the bullies shove each other. Bradley appears on his phone as if he’s calling somebody, which scares the high schoolers into running away without the book.

Bradley thanks Travis for helping him. Bradley admits he actually does lie to his parents sometimes. For example, he leaves early for school each morning, and they think it’s so he can study, but really, it’s to avoid the group of bullies. They also think he attends chess club each day after school, but really, he goes to the park to wait for the boys to leave the area near the bridge so he can walk home without encountering them. Bradley is also going to uninvite Velveeta from the dance so that Travis can ask her instead.

Velveeta tells Connie about not getting the scarves back, and she comforts her. Velveeta is very upset, so Connie allows her to do homework, eat baked goods, and nap at the library instead of attending school.

Travis visits the aggressive dog, Larry, to give him a muffin. Larry’s owner appears and asks how Travis knows Larry’s name. Travis says he heard her calling him before, but he’ll leave now. The woman notices that Larry is friendlier toward Travis than he is to most people. Travis apologizes for feeding Larry and promises not to do it again. However, the woman isn’t mad, and says Travis can take Larry on a walk sometime. She sends Travis away to school.

McQueen has been talking to Travis’s other teachers about the extra reading help. Travis feels somewhat betrayed, but McQueen points out that his other teachers could obviously tell something was wrong, considering he never turns anything in or participates (except sometimes in math). McQueen says Travis needs to be transparent with his other teachers and pay attention in class. He reiterates that Travis could use text-to-speech technology in Social Studies and other classes and that lots of kids use it.

At lunch, Velveeta is impressed that Travis “neutralized” the bullies who were picking on Bradley in the park. Travis can tell that something’s bothering Velveeta, and it’s not the fact that Bradley uninvited her from the dance.

After finishing The Book Thief, Velveeta has a private conference with McQueen about it. He says the main reason he recommended it wasn’t because of Travis but because of its thematic concerns with death and grief. The father of Liesel, the protagonist, dies, and he reminds Velveeta of Calvin. McQueen says Velveeta is similar to Liesel and her father because she lights up the world and faces scary things like death bravely. Velveeta still misses Calvin terribly and continues to check his trailer to see if it’s open, but it’s always locked.

On Saturday morning, Travis thinks about how yesterday, he went to Bradley’s house and met his parents, who were kind and caring. He worries about Velveeta because he’s not sure she has anyone to take care of her as Bradley does. Travis goes to the bakery to visit Grandpa—this is the first time he’s ever gone. Grandpa looks delighted. Travis gets some donut holes; he doesn’t like them but wants to feed birds.

Travis feeds a bird, then goes to the library and does math homework while waiting for Velveeta to finish work. Travis finally told his math teacher he was struggling with word problems. He gives Velveeta the remaining donut holes and reveals he came “to cheer her up” (184). He notices she’s been wearing the same scarf, which is unusual for her. Travis offers to help Velveeta carry her wagon of laundry home, but she can do it herself. She asks if he’ll ever let her help him read again, but he points out she won’t accept help from him. This statement upsets her, and she leaves.

When Travis visited the library, Velveeta told Connie she wasn’t in the mood to entertain him with jokes. She thinks this is all people want from her. Connie says if that’s all she shows them, that’s all they’ll know how to expect. When Travis said he wanted to help Velveeta, this hurt her, but she doesn’t understand why.