Toby’s mother wanted to start a new life. So she headed for Utah, because people were getting rich there discovering Uranium and all. Toby attempts a new life too, changing his name to Jack. Roy, Rosemary’s boyfriend back in Florida, tracked her down in Utah. They once again lived together. Roy begins to talk about having a child so Jack and Rosemary run off again. This time to Seattle. I think his mother has a fear to settle down with a man, since her departure from Toby’s, I mean Jack’s, father. This is probably why she left Roy in Florida.

Jack receives a rifle, a Winchester, and struts around with it when no one is home. The rifle makes Jack feel more as a man when it is in his arms.

The two women living with Rosemary – Marian and Kathy – both get engaged and encourage Rosemary to do the same. Thus the entrance of Dwight. Dwight lives a few hours away but still visits Rosemary. Dwight has three offspring. Jack, with his perverse self (remember the Annette Funicello masturbation phase), finds a liking to Norma, Dwight’s eldest daughter.

Jack, with Taylor and Silver, becomes a young ruffian – smoking and causing a ruckus around town, and even lying to his mother’s face.

Dwight found it to be his job to straighten out Jack. Dwight had him join the Boy Scouts and get a paper route. Jack, I believe liked this even though it made life tougher for him; he finally had the father-figure guidance and authority in his life. This is why Jack never told his mother his true feelings about the situation with Dwight when she called him and asked Jack how things were.

Jack got involved in a fight one-day and that night at home he feared big trouble from Dwight; Jack was surprised with Dwight’s enthusiasm and excitement with the story of the fight. Dwight proceeded to teach Jack how to not only protect himself, but nonetheless sucker punch the opponent. This made Jack surer of himself as a young man.

After Jack’s basketball game, riding home in Bobby Crow’s car with Norma, Jack notices the behavior between the two in the front seat and concluded that they had sex. This broke Jack’s heart; only for a moment though.

Jack, with everyone out of the house, sneaked around through all their personal items. He found a letter from Rosemary’s brother in Paris. Jack wrote to his uncle describing their lives in Chinook as a living hell and asked for assistance in ridding themselves of their present lives. Jack was fed up with Dwight. At times Jack even desires to kill his father figure. Dwight treated Rosemary poorly, and Jack was sick of it. Stephen, Jack’s uncle in Paris, responded with a letter offering Jack an opportunity to live in Paris and go to school there. Dwight was pumped up in Jack’s future departure. The offer developed into a five-year stay and also requires Jack to be legally adopted by his uncle. The only reason Jack even pondered this preposterous idea was because he wanted his mother to start a new life while he was in France. In the end, Jack turned down the proposal because he could not leave his mother. He needed his mom. “The hell you aren’t,” Dwight responded to Jack’s final decision.”You’re going.”

Jack continues to search for ways to abandon his life in Concrete. First: Jack plans to run away to Alaska, letting Arthur in on the trip, but Jack lets that plan slide though Arthur was ready. I think that Jack, at least so far, is all about the ideas and not actions. Next, his plan is to go to his brother’s who had just wrote Jack, sending him a Princeton sweatshirt. Jack tried to scheme some money with a fake check nearly being arrested. By the way Jack’s life is going, with all his asinine ideas and plans, it seems that he will end up in a jail at one time or another.

Dwight betrays Jack big time when he pawns his Winchester rifle, Jack’s baby, for a dog. Dwight said the dog was Jack’s but in reality, the dog was Dwight’s hunting dog. And what a poor hunter Dwight is. When Champion becomes a nuisance for the camp, Dwight takes the dog for a ride and executes him.

Well, it’s over. Jack, I mean Toby, leaves his life in Chinook for a new one in Van Horn, leaving behind Dwight. Toby has made an effort to improve his social status by applying to prep schools that are ranked amongst the best in the nation. He had formed this idea with help from his brother, who Toby has developed a relationship with via letters and an oh-so-important phone call. Toby had told Geoffrey that Dwight had hit him, and hit him often. Geoffrey saw to it to fix Toby’s situation. Rosemary, when she caught word of this phone call, hoped that Geoffrey had not resented her for leaving him. Toby finally hears from his father who sparks the idea for Toby to live with him and his brother in California for the summer. Then, when the time is right, Rosemary would join them and they would be a family again. This is what Toby has waited for: a chance to be with his father and brother again. Toby’s mother, at first, rejected the notion that she would join them but lets a light shine through that the possibility did exist.

Rosemary is fed up with her life with Dwight. She knows that Toby has gone through a lot to live with him and it is time for that to change. Rosemary likes the idea of Toby going to a prep school, but thinks that Toby might be setting the bar too high. She does not want him to be disappointed. Many schools reject Toby, thoughtfully letting him down.

Toby once again does a sinful, devious deed. This time forging letters of recommendation for his applications, with some help from his old pal Arthur. Toby wants to prove everybody, including himself, wrong by attending prep school. He is known as a rebel.

Arthur and Toby have become torn apart over the years. Arthur knows Toby is not whom he portrays: an outlaw. This frustrates Toby.

Toby once again, with his rebel lifestyle, does something stupid. And it wasn’t even worth it; they didn’t use the gas. The four lads left Bolger’s house, drunk, and went to a poor neighbor’s to steal gasoline. They were caught and were to apologize to the victims who could not believe such a deplorable crime could be committed. Chuck apologized as instructed, but Toby could not. Toby just didn’t feel sorry for his actions, and could not apologize. This is derived from his lack of religious upbringing, he believes.

Chuck allegedly impregnated Tina Flood, and was going to go to prison for statutory rape. Unless he would marry Tina; he refused diligently. Chuck had always planned to marry the girl of his dreams, have many kids, and live the perfect life. Toby knows better to know that you can not force your future. Chuck is freed from the charges when Huff agrees to marry The Flood.

The money Dwight was supposedly saving for Toby (over $1300 worth) from Toby’s job is gone. Dwight confessed this to Rosemary after lengthy litigation. Toby can not believe all his hard-earned money is gone, thanks to Dwight.

When Toby hears of Dwight’s plan to visit Rosemary, who had just moved to Seattle, to persuade her to return to him, Toby takes necessary precautions. Toby goes to his old house in Chinook and takes all of Dwight’s hunting guns and knife to protect his mother. Toby pawns these guns for practically nothing. Toby doesn’t mind though; Dwight had pawned his gun and stolen his money and this seems fit. I agree.

Toby goes to California for his dream summer where he expects his family to finally reestablish. His father goes nuts and ends up in a mental institution; Rosemary laughs at the idea of joining Toby and Geoffrey. Toby’s master plan went down the toilet. Toby fails out of Hill. He had no idea what he had gotten into. He was trying to impress too many people. Rosemary and Toby end up in Washington, DC, where she is confronted by Dwight and threatens her. He ends up stealing her purse, and sent back to Seattle by the police. Dwight was apparently in love with this woman for how many years now, and after a failed attempt of rejoining, he robs her!? That is precious, Dwight, just precious.

A good book.