Chapter 8

This represents the locker room Gene and Finny go to when they skip class.

This picture of a boy doing chin ups represents Gene doing chin ups in the gym.

This picture represents the Olympics which Finny is Training Gene for.

This picture represents the bed Gene made for Finny.

When Gene got back to the room, i jokingly criticized his clothing, "Where did you get those clothes(95)!" I could tell he was just happy to see me and wasn't effected by the way I was talking to him. "You don't have to advertise like that, we all know you're the worst dressed man in the class(94)," even when I had said that he still seemed fine. He told me those were is working clothes, and that he has been working all day. I then asked him, "In the boiler room(95)?", but he corrected me and said he was out shoveling the train tracks. Gene then began to take off his clothes that he had been working in all day. When he finally got to his undershirt I told him he should have worn that all day. He then noticed my crutches, this was no surprise to him because he had seen me in crutches the time i broke my ankle playing football.I then asked him, "Whats is all this crap about no maids(96)?" He explained that there were no more maids accounting we were at war and that was not such a huge sacrifice. This kind of surprised me to hear Gene talk of war, he seemed unselfish. He then kindly went and found sheets and made up my bed. Gene looked surprised that I was not sensitive about being helped. Gene told me he was thinking about enlisting with Brinker and I became furious. I then convinced him to tell Brinker that he wasn't going to and i succeeded. This was a relief to me because if Gene left then who would be here as my leg heals. I began to make fun of Brinker nicknaming him, Yellow Peril. This was his nickname because we joked about how Brinker was Madam Chiang Kai-Shek's son from China. My favorite time of the year is winter and i suggested we skip class so I could revisit some of the school that I haven't seen in a while. We first went to the Gym and into the locker room, where I asked Gene if he has picked a team to join. Gene tells me that he hasn't because of the war. I explained to him that the war is a conspiracy by the adult establishment, "The fat old men who don't want us crowding them out of their jobs(107)." I then tell Gene to do chin ups, I push him far enough to get 30 reps. I told Gene of how I wanted someday to be in the Olympics, so now Gene has to be in them. As I train him for the Olympics of 1944, he will train me academically.