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Marcus refuses to name Charlie as the main offender in the vandalism incident because he thinks no one will believe him, and he doesn’t want to lose his practice time with Charlie at Three Alarm park. Since the exterminator doesn’t want to look bad at his job, he doesn’t press charges, and Marcus is left with a warning that if the exterminator accuses him of something again, “you’re looking at arrest, prosecution, the whole nine yards” (73). Marcus vows to stay out of trouble and is determined to figure out what’s going on with Charlie.

Marcus is put in to play cornerback for the next game, and while the position is one of the least glorious, he’s just glad to be playing at all. Marcus notices that Troy makes a play to avoid being tackled, and though it’s petty, this makes Marcus feel better because it means “even Golden Boy was human” (78). Since Charlie is in the audience, Marcus is determined to show off what the man’s taught him. Marcus makes a hard tackle and intercepts, earning praise from the coach and annoyance from Troy.