Lawn Boy

They arrive at Arnold’s, and Joey quietly enters the house through the porch. From the outside, the boy’s family can hear various screaming and thumping noises, and then they watch as Joey hurtles a man “so hard he took the porch screen off its hinges and was propelled into the yard riding the screen on his hands and knees like it was a body board” (80). Joey follows, dragging two other men behind him. Joey wants to make good on his promise to “pinch [their] head[s]” (81), but the boy’s family gently requests an end to the violence. Joey releases the men and they scuttle away. They find Arnold tied to a chair inside, though unharmed. As they free him, the boy introduces his family. They chat over Arnold’s iced tea, relieved the trouble has passed.

The boy’s family attends Joey’s boxing match on Saturday. They expect the match to last a while, but Joey wins in four and a half seconds with one punch that lands “so hard that it sound[s] like somebody [has] slammed a melon with an ax” (85). Joey claims the $5,000 prize money, half of which now belongs to his 12-year-old sponsor.