108 pages • 3 hours read
Barbara Haworth-AttardTheories of Relativity
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
Disappointed about the job, Dylan resolves to not have expectations anymore. He sits in front of the office building as snow falls. The winter months will be hard because people are less likely to take time to dig out change.
Across the street, Jenna is absent from the church. Dylan worries about her. A photograph from his grandparents’ wedding falls loose from his bag. He catches it quickly and examines it, wishing he were with his grandparents instead. He tucks the photo of his grandparents safely into the Einstein book.
Vulture approaches and snatches the book from Dylan, but Dylan snatches it back, which startles Vulture, who isn’t used to people crossing him. Upon seeing the Einstein book, Vulture decides that Dylan is the brainy type and offers Dylan a job. Dylan declines, but Vulture presses him, warning him about the difficulties of being on the streets in the winter. Dylan looks to the church, and Vulture says that Jenna will be there too. Vulture says Jenna is in training but doesn’t specify what kind. Dylan rejects Vulture’s offer again, and Vulture warns him to stay away from Jenna.
After Vulture leaves, Dylan continues his begging but gets nothing. The same man who gave him a sausage bun returns with another sausage for Dylan. He takes a seat next to Dylan. Dylan is thankful for the bun but suspicious. Dylan warns the guy that he doesn’t have sex with men for money. The man laughs, saying he doesn’t do that either, and introduces himself as Glen. He asks for Dylan’s name, which Dylan gives reluctantly. Glen tells Dylan he’s sorry Dylan didn’t get the coffee shop job and encourages him to keep trying.
Later, Jenna joins Dylan. She has a bruise from where Vulture hit her but says she deserved it. She cries that Vulture took all her money and tells Dylan that she needs feminine products. Dylan gives Jenna enough of his daily earnings to get a hot cocoa and tells her he’ll take care of it.
Excited to be Jenna’s savior, Dylan visits a pharmacy. Knowing he doesn’t have enough money, he strategically pockets items he needs, like deodorant and soap; after some confusion about the feminine products, he grabs a package for Jenna. When he gets close to the doors, he runs out, dodging people and turning down alleys until he is a safe distance away.
As Dylan catches his breath, cops approach him with a photo of Jenna, asking if he’s seen her. He tells them no, and they reveal that Jenna is 14—much younger than she told Dylan. When Dylan finds Jenna at Mandy’s, she’s sitting with Vulture and Amber. Dylan feels uncomfortable seeing Amber because of their history. She taught him about surviving this lifestyle, and they also had sex, during which Amber alluded to her prostitution. Dylan has since distanced himself from her.
Jenna seems more mellow and tells Dylan they’re all friends now. She is high, possibly on multiple different drugs. Jenna tells Dylan that she has a nickname now, “Jewel,” and asks if the group can give Dylan a nickname. Dylan says no: “You get a street name and it means you belong here” (61). He leaves Mandy’s and dumps the feminine products in a trash can outside.
Chapter 8 Summary
Dylan and Twitch sit in the youth center. It’s the first time Twitch has been able to convince Dylan to come. They play checkers, but Twitch can’t focus on the game very long. He also has coughing fits. Dylan is patient, however, because he is warm and has access to soup and sandwiches. The people here range from teenagers 20-somethings. Twitch is 18 and has been on the streets for four years. The people in the center all seem to know each other, and most of them smoke cigarettes.
Dylan spots Amber across the room. There are only a few people staffed at the center, and Dylan is pleasantly surprised that the workers don’t preach to the attendees. One of the workers, Ainsley, gives Dylan and Twitch a flyer for an alternative schooling computer program. Dylan jokes that no one has time for that but puts the flyer in his backpack.
Amber takes a seat next to Dylan and accuses him of forgetting her. Dylan says he’s been busy. Amber greets Twitch and asks for a cigarette, which Twitch gives her. Dylan asks about Jenna, and Amber speculates that Dylan has a crush on her. She tells him to keep that to himself because Jenna is Vulture’s property. Dylan bitterly says, “You’re [Vulture’s] property too” (66). Amber replies that she has money and her own place, which Dylan calls a dump. Still upset that Dylan left without warning, Amber walks away.
Twitch tells Dylan that Amber is five months pregnant. Dylan is relieved that the timeline doesn’t add up for him to be the father. Dylan reads his Einstein book for a moment. Someone blows smoke in Dylan’s face, and he turns to see a burly man. Twitch introduces the man as Lurch, and Lurch quickly reveals that he’s been in prison for a multitude of violent and nonviolent crimes. Dylan figures Lurch is Vulture’s henchman. He offers Dylan a job, but Dylan declines. Lurch grows aggressive, and Ainsley tells him to leave.
As he exits, Lurch tells Dylan to consider his offer and to send Twitch out as he has a gift for him. Dylan reiterates that he’s not interested. Twitch reappears and warns Dylan that he’ll have to watch himself now. Dylan relays the message from Lurch, and Twitch excitedly follows Lurch out. Dylan realizes that Twitch brought him to the youth center to be set up with Lurch in exchange for a hit. He resolves to trust no one.
Chapter 9 Summary
Dylan presents another theory: It is better to “keep [your] own teeth as long as possible” than “stand up to bullies like Lurch and Vulture” (73). Dylan keeps a low profile for a few days, but he remains in his spot outside the office building. It’s a warm day, so people are generous. Dylan makes good money off the lunch rush. Jenna approaches him to chat, relaying that she got really drunk the previous night. She looks rougher now, and she has a fresh bruise near the previous one. Jenna returns to the church. There’s a sign outside advertising a hospitality dinner that night—free food.
Glen approaches Dylan and offers him some gloves. Dylan doesn’t like feeling like Glen is taming him but accepts the gloves. Glen sees the Einstein book and makes small talk about odd-looking geniuses. The flyer for the computer program falls out of the book, and Glen encourages Dylan to try it, adding that he volunteers there on weekends. Dylan indicates he isn’t interested but keeps the flyer. Glen asks about Dylan’s siblings, and Dylan stifles tears when he names Micha and Jordan.
Dylan doesn’t want Glen preaching to him anymore, so he decides to abandon his spot outside the office. Jenna returns in good spirits, shaking her basket to show Dylan how much she’s made. Dylan asks how much of it she’ll get to keep, and her demeanor drops. Apologetically, he invites her to join him at the hospitality dinner, and Jenna accepts. Dylan sees it as a date.
When Jenna leaves, Dylan is approached by a group of punks whom Dylan dubs the Bandana Kids. They trap Dylan and ask if he makes good money in this spot. Without letting him reply, they declare they’re taking the spot from him and shove him, telling him to not come back. Defiant, despite having already decided to leave, Dylan says he’ll go where he wants. The group move in closer to Dylan, and one of them flashes a knife at him. Amber’s voice warns them of cops nearby, and the group disperses.
Twitch and Amber stand there. Dylan isn’t sure when they arrived, but he knows Amber saved him. Both warn Dylan to be more careful. Dylan notices Amber is smoking and tells her she shouldn’t do that while pregnant. She says she’s cutting back and calls him an ungrateful jerk before leaving. Dylan then invites Twitch to the hospitality dinner. Twitch asks if Dylan has a death wish for continuing to see Jenna.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
Chapters 7-9 emphasize the more serious and dangerous aspects of street life. Characters like Vulture, Lurch, Twitch, and Amber bring attention to the multifaceted risks and threats of homelessness. Vulture acts as a pimp and mob-boss type figure, exercising his power over Amber and Jenna, and making threats toward Dylan if he doesn’t fall in line. Lurch is characterized as a henchman, with a skull-and-bones tattoo on his neck, black army boots, muscles, a shaved head, and a criminal record. Dylan immediately recognizes the threat Lurch poses to him. Twitch represents addiction. He is a victim of the streets, always high and searching for another hit, which has led him into compromising situations.
Twitch and Amber have both sold their bodies, but Amber has made it her sole income. Dylan recalls meeting Amber as she propositioned a man through a car window, but he wasn’t put off by her sex work until she brought it up while they were intimate. Amber represents what Jenna could become. Amber has been on the streets long enough to make sex work her full-time job. She pays for a place to stay and supports herself on the money she makes working for Vulture. Dylan’s contempt for Amber stems from a place of fear and disgust. He cares deeply for Jenna and worries she’ll end up like Amber if she continues living on the streets. Through Amber, Dylan has seen first-hand the danger that Vulture poses to young women and girls. Jenna’s bruises and drug and alcohol use signify that her transformation has already begun. This is reinforced when Jenna adopts a street name, Jewel.
Dylan’s feelings for Jenna lead him into compromising situations. Despite his wisdom about avoiding Vulture, Dylan can’t help but tempt fate when it comes to seeing Jenna. Despite multiple warnings from many people, Dylan remains adamant about seeing her and fails to distance himself out of concern for her. Aside from the threat of Vulture, Dylan also risks jailtime by stealing for Jenna. Dylan indicates he’s stolen before, but only smaller items like bars of soap and sticks of deodorant—he has never stolen anything he didn’t need. However, for Jenna, Dylan steals a box of unspecified feminine products, which is much more conspicuous. He alludes to Robin Hood’s stealing from the rich, stating that Jenna will be his Maid Marian. Soon thereafter, Dylan finds out Jenna lied about her age and is actually a year younger than she told him. This does not put him off, though, and he continues his quest to bring her the products she needs, narrating, “I’ll take care of her, me, the white knight with the feminine products” (58). It is only after he finds her high with Vulture and Amber that Dylan takes his first steps distancing himself from her. His throwing away of the feminine products symbolizes his anger at Jenna for falling into Vulture’s trap.
The youth center setting in Chapter 8 represents a duality of life on the streets. While it showcases the community’s helpful side, providing food, counseling services, warmth, and resources, it also provides a hub for characters like Lurch and Vulture to keep an eye on the more vulnerable street kids, like Amber and Twitch. Despite his desperate situation, Dylan never wanted to visit the youth center and he regrets going. By the end of Chapter 8, Dylan understands the dangers trusting those around him.
At the beginning of Chapter 9, Dylan presents another one of his theories. He contrasts conventional advice about standing up to bullies with his theory that everyone should keep their teeth. Dylan’s theories help characterize him and explain his decisions as the novel progresses. This theory shows that he does value his own safety, despite actions that suggest otherwise, such as later in the chapter when he fights the group of punks. This contrast between his ideas and his actions shows that Dylan is a smart kid but tends to get wrapped up in his pride.
