Schooled

Everyone dressing up as Capricorn Anderson for the vigil had not been part of Zach and Hugh’s original plan, but once they distributed the flyers, the vigil took on a life of its own. Zach’s plan was to rehabilitate his reputation by positioning “himself as head mourner of the Anderson tragedy” (190).

Zach gets on the bed of the school district’s flatbed truck, turns off the music, and addresses the crowd. He talks about the “two wild, fantastic months” (191) when Capricorn was eighth grade president. He then invites other students to talk about the way Capricorn “touched [their] lives” (191).

Naomi is next, explaining that Capricorn showed her “a whole different way to be [and] [h]ow to be sensitive and generous” (192). Naomi laments that she never got a chance to tell him that Lorelai Lumley does not exist. Naomi is followed by student after student, talking about how Capricorn had changed their lives for the better. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to raise his status at the school, Hugh gets up to speak. Unlike the others, he does not believe that Capricorn is dead, so he has to bite the inside of his cheek to get himself to cry. Hugh talks about how he was Capricorn’s first friend at the school, and then, in an effort to end his reign as the school joke, ends it by dropping the microphone, raising his arms to the sky, and bellowing, “Cap! You were too young to die!” (193).

Unfortunately for Hugh, at that moment Capricorn, in his Mickey Mouse mask, pushes to the front of the crowd and takes off the mask: “‘See?’ announced Cap Anderson. ‘Everything’s okay! I’m not dead!’” (194).

The reaction to Capricorn being alive is chaotic. Hugh falls off of the bed of the truck, and people start closing in on Capricorn. A couple of the guys hoist him up onto the truck. Capricorn tells the ecstatic crowd that he came back for two reasons. The first is because he wants to see a dance. And the second is because he never had a chance to say goodbye. Capricorn then proceeds to individually say goodbye to all 1,100 students, using each of their names. It takes almost an hour, and the crowd stands in rapt silence. Even Zach is impressed: “No football player could fail to recognize what I was experiencing right then. It was the moment on the field when you realize that you’re completely, hopelessly outclassed” (198).

Afterward, Darryl hoists Capricorn onto his shoulders and deposits him next to his grandmother. Zach overhears Mrs. Donnelly yelling at Rain for not teaching Capricorn about real-world issues, like how money works. She ends by saying, “You won’t live forever, you know” (200). This is also the moment when Zach realizes that the canceled Halloween dance was Capricorn’s doing. But by that point, he has no wish to destroy Capricorn. He just wants to be with his friends. He is even starting to appreciate Hugh: “He was such a dweeb, but he was almost my dweeb now—the only kid who’d stuck by me while the whole school flocked to the hairball” (201).

For the third time, Capricorn is arrested for driving without a license. This time, he is on what he thinks is Garland Farm, but the arresting officer lets him know that the land has been sold to Skyline Realty and Development. Capricorn is immediately concerned for Rain. She has looked so sad lately, and he doesn’t know what she will do if she loses the farm. As for Capricorn, he knows that he does not quite fit in at school, but he no longer fits on Garland Farm, either.

As he is waiting for Rain, a stylish older woman in a Mercedes pulls up to the station. After a moment, he realizes that it’s his grandmother. After coming in and giving a shocked Capricorn a hug, she explains everything.

Forty years ago, she had bought Garland Farm with money borrowed from her parents. Even though they lived communally, the farm was always in Rain’s name. She had never planned to sell the land, but “the accident was a wake-up call” (206): “It would be criminal for me to let you face life with no more street smarts than a newborn baby” (206). Rain has not abandoned her ideals, though, and she is not willing to sell to just anyone. Rather than selling to a developer who would “build some gated fortress of McMansions for the masters of the universe” (206), Rain sold the land to a company that was going to build affordable housing.

Rain sells the farm for $17 million. After buying a condo for her and Capricorn, she plans to use the bulk of the money to start a charitable foundation. Because the condo is not ready, Rain arranges for Capricorn to stay with the Donnellys for a few days. He also gets to start at his new, old school: Claverage Middle School.