Bruiser

At school, Brontë attempts to make Brewster more social. She holds his hand at lunch and does not hide their relationship. He initially insists that he does not want friends, but she convinces him that he should go out with her and her friends to at least meet new people.

The night Hoyt beats Cody, Brontë and Brewster go to the mall for dinner. Brontë brings four of her friends. Brewster has a good time and feels accepted.

At school, Brontë sees Brewster and realizes that he has a swollen face and is trying to hide a black eye. He admits that Hoyt is the one who did it to him.

Brontë tries to convince Brewster to go to the police, but he refuses. He explains that if he is taken from his uncle, he will go into a home, and if that happens there will be no way to hide his abilities. Brontë reluctantly agrees not to tell anyone.

When Brewster and Cody get home, they hear breaking glass. Brewster sends Cody to get ice cream, then goes inside to face Uncle Hoyt.

Brewster convinces himself that now is the time to stand up for himself. He cannot let Hoyt continue to abuse them.

When he gets inside, he sees Hoyt using a baseball bat to smash glasses and plateware. Brewster takes the bat from Hoyt and threatens him. Brewster raises his fist to hit him but realizes that he cannot bring himself to do it.

As Hoyt taunts him, Brewster realizes that he cannot lower his arm. His face feels weird, and he can barely breathe, as his legs stop working and he collapses to the ground. He looks over to Hoyt and sees that Hoyt is having a stroke, and it is transferring to Brewster.

Brewster struggles on the ground with thoughts of what is happening. He tries to convince himself that he does not care about Hoyt so that the stroke will not fully transfer to him. He thinks of all the things Hoyt has done to him and Cody. With a final thought of “your death is yours alone, Uncle Hoyt; it’s what you created, what you’ve earned” (206), he regains consciousness and the ability to use his body.

Brewster leaves the house, limping slightly but mostly recovered. He goes to the ice cream shop and finds Cody, then calls an ambulance for Hoyt.

After Hoyt dies, rumors circulate about what happened to Brewster and Cody, as they don’t return to school.

On Wednesday—four days after Hoyt’s death—Brontë receives a call from Brewster. He is staying with neighbors, the Gortons, who keep Brewster and Cody at home. They have been to several doctors and CPS is looking into their situation. The Gortons are hoping to adopt them.

The next day, Brontë and Tennyson go to visit Brewster. Mrs. Gorton tries to tell them that they’re not home, but Cody comes running to the door. As Mrs. Gorton tells them that Brewster is not up to seeing anyone, Tennyson spots him looking down at them through the window and decides that it must be at least partially true.

Brontë decides that her parents should try to adopt Brewster and Cody. Tennyson agrees to help Brontë try to convince them.

Tennyson speaks with his dad, who is adamantly against the idea. Tennyson tries to convince him by saying that it might help their family dynamic.

Brontë then tries by telling her mother that she is going to quit the swim team to get a job and become an emancipated minor since their parents’ unwillingness to consider adopting Brewster and Cody has made her realize this is not a house she wants to be in. She even sees a lawyer, who calls the house and worries her mom.

Finally, their parents agree to call social services to set up an appointment to discuss the idea. By the end, they end up filling out an application.

Later that week, Brewster and Cody move in with Tennyson’s family. That night at dinner, things are more normal than they have been in a while. They sit together and have dinner as a family, with their mom even cooking for the first time in months.

Tennyson goes down to the spare bedroom—where Cody and Brewster will be sleeping—and finds Brewster and Brontë talking. Brontë leaves, and Brewster asks what people at school are saying about him. Tennyson says that some think he killed his uncle, to which Brewster adamantly insists that he didn’t, making Tennyson wonder if Brewster is trying to convince himself of that fact.

Brewster tells Tennyson that he intentionally stole and broke things at the Gortons in an effort to make them not like him. The thought makes Tennyson think about Brewster’s ability differently, realizing how difficult it must be to force yourself not to care about people to avoid unwillingly taking on their ailments.

At school that Monday, Brewster goes back for the first time. At lunch, Katrina asks Tennyson if Brewster is really living with them. Tennyson says yes, and Katrina jokes about Tennyson’s safety. Tennyson shuts her down, defending Brewster for one of the first times ever.

Katrina asks Tennyson to come over that night, but he tells her that he has too much going on at home. He realizes that, lately, he has wanted to be home more and more because he feels safe there, “like nothing can hurt [him]” (238)

During a half-day at school, Tennyson goes to a smoothie shop with his friends. He is annoyed at the people there—including Ozzy, who still regularly bullies Brewster—but he feels obligated to go because of his friends.

When Brewster comes in, Ozzy begins making fun of him. Tennyson tries to get him to stop, but then Ozzy goes up to Brewster.

Tennyson takes Ozzy’s smoothie and spits into it, bringing the attention off Brewster and back to him. Tennyson and Ozzy argue, which eventually leads to a physical fight. Ozzy hits him first, making Tennyson realize that any pain Ozzy inflicts on him will be transferred to Brewster. He decides to end the fight quickly, punching Ozzy several times and breaking his nose, to the shock of his friends gathered watching.

At home, Brontë has already heard the news of the fight. She is concerned about Tennyson getting in trouble, but Tennyson insists that he did not start it, and everything will be fine.

Tennyson notes how calm his parents are about the situation. They do little to scold him, and things are “as normal as normal can be” (246).

That night, Cody comes into Tennyson’s room and asks if he is going to be like Uncle Hoyt. The question unsettles Tennyson—as does Cody’s gaze—but Tennyson insists that he won’t turn into Hoyt.

When Cody leaves, Tennyson realizes that he feels a “bizarre bliss” but doesn’t question why, instead feeling grateful for it.

Brewster, Cody, Tennyson, and Tennyson’s dad go to the park to play basketball. Because Cody does not like to play, he takes his kite into the field.

The kite eventually leads him to the edge of the park and into the street, where several cars have to swerve to avoid hitting him. Across the street, his kite gets stuck in an electrical tower.

Cody decides to climb the tower to retrieve the kite. Despite the height of the tower and the electricity that he can hear humming in it, he does not feel fear or worry, knowing that if he gets hurt, it will just transfer to Brewster.

After several moments of not being able to untie the kite, he looks down and sees that Brewster, Tennyson, and Tennyson’s dad have all come running to the tower and are yelling at him. Brewster begins to climb.

When Brewster reaches him, he scolds Cody and tells him that he needs to stop doing these things. Cody says that it is fine, and that even if he falls, he’ll feel no pain. Brewster insists that he will feel the pain for Cody, and Cody realizes for the first time that maybe there are things that Brewster can’t recover from—like what happened to Uncle Hoyt—and that he should be more careful in giving his injuries to Brewster.

As a firetruck arrives with a ladder to get them down, Cody realizes he cannot hold on any longer and he falls. Brewster catches his arm, and Cody realizes that he feels no fear or danger because Brewster is feeling all the emotions for him. As Cody hangs there, he looks down and sees how high up they really are and realizes that Brewster could die if either one of them falls. He feels his fear being taken by Brewster, but instead decides that he needs to hold onto that fear, because it is helping him hold on tighter to Brewster’s hand.

A fireman finally arrives on the ladder and takes Cody from the tower. Cody thinks of how, by holding on to his own fear, he was able to fight against Brewster’s ability and do his “own little impossible” (257).