Wolfsong

One of the men at the shop, Chris, loses his mother. The others comfort him with physical touch. When Chris comes back from settling family matters with his 17-year-old sister, Jessie, Ox develops an immediate crush on her. She becomes part of Ox’s social circle and then his girlfriend.

Carter and Kelly are wary and then surprised when Ox agrees to go out on a Sunday night and miss the traditional Bennett family dinner. They tell Ox that he has to tell Joe, but Ox forgets. The date goes well until Jessie brings up Joe, at which point Ox remembers that he’d forgotten to tell him. He ends the date—Jessie kisses him—and runs the two miles home.

The Bennetts are waiting for him on the porch, concerned, but are relieved to find that he’s not hurt or being chased. Carter calls him an asshole and then suggests to his father, Thomas, that there’s something Ox should know since he’s “pack” (53). Thomas walks Ox home; Ox wants to see Joe first but doesn’t protest. Thomas tells Ox that Joe was hurt by his absence but will be fine. He tells Ox about what happened to Joe—he was kidnapped, tortured, and held for eight weeks when he was eight or nine.