Tenth of December

Mikey, a recently returned American veteran from an unspecified conflict in the Middle East, goes to his Ma’s house in his usual way, coming around the back and tapping on the window. They catch up, and Ma uses the word “beeping” instead of expletives as she’s been in trouble at her church job for language. Harris, Ma’s unemployed partner, comes downstairs and immediately asks Mikey “’What’s the worst thing you ever did over there?’” (169). Mikey deflects by asking about Ma’s old boyfriend. Harris questions how long Mikey is staying with them, then encourages Ma to make them some food.

Harris reveals that Ma has found a lump, though Ma later tells Mikey that Harris is a serial liar. Mikey asks about his sister Renee, and Harris and Ma bicker about Renee’s new baby and Harris’s belief that her husband Ryan is abusive.

Mikey goes to Ryan and Renee’s house and hides in the bushes while eavesdropping on the couple and their parents. Ryan’s parents talk about acquaintances they know, the Flemings, who flew a “planeload of babies” to America for operations to correct physical deformity, though they also note how harsh the couple is with each other, then lament that they cannot afford to be so charitable.

Renee steps outside with the baby and is surprised to see Mikey. She gives the baby to Ryan and tells Mikey that he can’t come in until Ryan’s parents leave, after which they’ll “hash out” whether he can come in or not. While they discuss this, she asks repeatedly, “Did you do it?” (175) without specifying what she’s referring to. Mikey asks why she didn’t tell him about Ma’s illness—Renee reveals Ma has heart problems, not cancer, then chides Mikey when he reveals Harris thinks Ryan is abusive.

Back at Ma’s house, a man attempts to evict Ma and Harris for nonpayment of rent. Ma and Harris use Mikey’s veteran status as leverage. The man isn’t swayed and goes inside to grab the TV. When he emerges, Mikey grabs him and pushes him to the ground. That night, Mikey watches from a neighbor’s deer stand as a sheriff arrives with movers and empties out the house. Mikey feels a familiar feeling of “a plan […] flowing directly down to my hands and feet. When that happened, I knew to trust it” (181): he goes to the house, puts Ma and Harris in the living room, and threatens to burn the house down if they don’t get their act together. Seeing their fear, he puts out the small carpet fire he’d made and goes to see Joy, his ex-wife, and their children.

Joy’s home is dark, so Mikey walks to a store that sells an electronic device called MiiVOXmax. He admits to an employee that he doesn’t know what it is as he’s been away at war. The employee shakes his hand and debates with a fellow coworker, revealing that they don’t know which war Mikey means, if it’s ended, or if it was good or bad. Mikey inadvertently walks out with what he thinks is just a tag for a MiiVOXmax but is the product itself.

He returns to Joy’s house and Joy’s new husband Evan (who is primarily referred to as Asshole) answers. Evan refuses to let him in, but Mikey wants to see the kids, and they negotiate Mikey coming back tomorrow evening. They have a tense exchange about Mikey’s divorce, which reveals that Joy likely had an affair with Evan.

Back at the house, Ma and Harris are on the floor trying to figure out where to go. A sheriff enters and tells Mikey that he needs to stop assaulting people or he will be arrested. He asks Ma and Harris where they’ll go—they refuse to go to Renee’s or a shelter—and urges them to find someplace to be by tomorrow.

In the morning while Ma tries unsuccessfully to find a place to stay, Harris asks Mikey about his court-martial; Mikey was cleared of charges, but Harris still thinks he will want to talk about it. The sheriff returns and locks them out; Ma tries again to use her son’s status as a veteran, not realizing he’s the same man from yesterday. With nowhere else to go, they drive to Renee’s. On the drive, Mikey is angry at his mother but also wants to tell her what happened at “Al-Raz” and be comforted; he sees that she is wavering between imagined outrage that Renee would deny her and fear that she will be embarrassed in front of Ryan’s parents.

Ma’s fear is justified: “Renee did deny her in front of Ryan’s parents, who did find her trash” (191). Mikey asks to see the baby, and Renee almost hands it over before Ryan gives her a look. Renee offers to pay for a hotel for Ma and Harris, and the conversation veers between Mikey wanting to hold the baby, Ma and Renee arguing, and Ryan’s parents thanking Mikey for his service. The argument makes Mikey worry that he might actually hurt the baby, so he changes his mind, picks up a pitcher of lemonade, and smashes it on the floor.

He goes back to the MiiVOXmax store and returns the tag to two different employees, who are relieved to have it back. They learn that they were all overseas together and one of the employees was also at Al-Raz. Mikey and the other Al-Raz veteran trade details while the other employee tries to relate by talking about how he accidentally ran over a dog with a forklift. The other Al-Raz veteran relates how a mistake he made led to his friend taking some shrapnel in the groin; Mikey knows he is supposed to reveal his own mistake, but does not.

Outside, Mikey calls Renee on a pay phone and apologizes for smashing the pitcher. She asks him where he’s going, and he says “Home.”

He returns to Joy’s house, thinking that he’s on a “shame slide” that resembles both a time when he could not bring himself to stop cleaning out a man’s pond after he revealed that his actions were killing tadpoles and his experience at Al-Raz. He looks at the house and realizes he will be seen as a dangerous villain there. He sees that everyone from Renee’s house is there too. He flies into a murderous rage that they are there to stop him from doing something awful, but when he sees Ma’s frailty, he stops, thinking, “Okay, okay, you sent me, now bring me back” (198).