We The Animals

Manny, Joel, and the narrator play a kind of foursquare in the street, except they cannot let the ball touch the ground. When they pass the ball, they each use one of Paps’s expressions: “And this is for raising your voice […] And this is for doing nothing...” (86). It gets dark and the other kids playing near them on the street go home for dinner. Manny tells them about black and white magic. Lately, he has been taking the brothers into the forest to look for poisonous mushrooms, which are supposed to contain “God’s black magic” (87).

They decide to see who can throw the ball with enough force to break a window on a camper that has been sitting in a neighbor’s driveway. When a light comes on at the house, they wait. Manny says that they can’t be seen and suggests they use a rock instead. He throws the rock, the glass shatters, and they run.

When they turn back, they see that the neighbor’s son is following them. He carries a flashlight and shines it on them as they reach a dead end in the road.