Necessary Roughness

Chan and Young are working a shift at Froggie’s when an ore plant employee asks about a cigarette brand they’ve never heard of. He asks if they have “that huh-huh stuff” (114), and when Chan and Young react with confusion, he leaves disappointed. Chan tells Young about their old store being held up when they were 12, but he withholds a detail—that his father didn’t react with anger, but simply hugged his son after making sure he was okay. Mikko visits the store and pays special attention to Young. When Abogee gets angry at Chan for giving his friend a free piece of candy, Mikko intervenes and pays for it.

Chan anticipates the Homecoming game against Little Moon. Chan makes a tackle as the strong safety. Another tackle knocks the wind out of Chan and bruises his ribs, but he still manages to make the field goal. The team wins, but Jimmi is demoted for failing to protect Chan. Chan dances with Rainey at the homecoming dance, eventually kissing her.

The football team watches video replays of their game in the huge movie theater basement at Mikko’s house. After the coaches leave, Rom plays two back-to-back Jeane-Pierre Vandervanter movies that depict him mastering Taekwondo and beating up the Asian bad guys.