Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Steven wakes up and decides to make Jeffrey some oatmeal as a surprise. When Jeffrey enters the kitchen, Steven is shocked by how badly his brother’s face has bruised because of his leukemia; he has two large black eyes, and his nose is “swollen to twice its normal size” (46). After breakfast, Jeffrey and his mom leave for Philadelphia, and Steven’s dad drives Steven to school. At school, Annette asks Steven if Jeffrey is okay and if Steven got in trouble with his parents. He tells her that Jeffrey is fine and apologizes for yelling at her on the bus. He does not tell Annette or any of his other friends about Jeffrey’s cancer.

While Jeffrey and his mom are away, Steven convinces himself that Jeffrey’s diagnosis is just a terrible mistake. He assumes everything must be okay since he has not heard otherwise from his parents. He later finds out that during this week his mom called his dad every night to update him on the bad news about Jeffrey’s condition, but his dad has kept these reports from Steven. Since he and his dad are barely talking, Steven begins to spend most of his time at home practicing for his drum lessons and the spring concert. He also stops doing his schoolwork. The only friend who notices a change in him is Annette, who annoys him by constantly asking if something is wrong. In English class, instead of writing on the assigned topics, Steven uses his journal to rant about how Annette keeps nagging him about not doing his homework and how his dad never makes eye contact with him anymore. He also writes about how his mother and brother have abandoned him and are having a fun “vacation” in Philadelphia without him. The only high point of Steven’s week occurs during All-City Band practice when he gets to play all the percussion parts because the other drummer is sick. During one piece, Steven plays so well he goes into “the Zone,” impressing everyone, including Mr. Watras. When Renee walks in wearing her cheerleading outfit, however, Steven gets distracted and drops one of his drumsticks, which goes flying and smashes into the bell of one of the trumpets. Renee looks pleased with herself, and Annette laughs about the incident the whole bus ride home.

That Saturday, Jeffrey and his mom return from Philadelphia. After giving his mom a hug, Steven says, “So, Mom, everything’s OK, right? This whole cancer mistake is all sorted out?” (66). He tells her that he assumed Jeffrey’s diagnosis must be a mistake since she never called from Philadelphia. His mom tells him that Jeffrey is “a very, very sick boy” and Jeffrey is angry to learn that his dad did not tell Steven about her calls or keep him updated on Jeffrey’s condition (66). Jeffrey tells Steven that he really missed him and gives him a box of orange Tic Tacs as a present. Steven offers a Tic Tac to Jeffrey, but as soon as Jeffrey puts the Tic Tac in his mouth, he throws up on Steven’s sneakers. Steven shouts at him and calls for his mom. Jeffrey gets upset and runs to the bathroom. His mom makes Steven take off his shoes and put them in a plastic bag. She then calls the doctor to explain what happened and find out if Jeffrey’s medications will need to be adjusted. After getting off the phone, she tells Steven that they need to be very careful about what Jeffrey eats as the chemotherapy makes him very nauseous. After Jeffrey goes to bed, Steven goes to get the full medical report on his brother. His parents tell him that Jeffrey has a “moderate risk” case of ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. His chances of survival are over 50%, but there is a still a chance that the cancer might be fatal. Steven’s mom asks if he would like her to tell his teachers and school counselor. Steven angrily replies that he does not want her to get his teachers involved and starts to get upset. She relents and agrees not to call the school.