Wringer

Palmer is in shock to a see a pigeon outside his window. He’s excited to see one in the wild, but he’s scared that Beans and the other boys might see. He shuts his window shade and heads to school. He meets up with Beans and the other boys, and they throw snowballs at Dorothy. Palmer only feels a little bad. He had begun to realize that “there just wasn’t room in his life for both Dorothy and the guys” (73). He views Dorothy as a downer because that’s the way the other boys see her.

All day long he can’t stop thinking about the pigeon by his window. When he goes home that night, he’s relieved to see that the pigeon is no longer there.

The next morning, the pigeon is back at his window. He yells at the pigeon to leave, telling it “[t]his town kills pigeons” (76), but the bird doesn’t leave. After breakfast, Palmer feeds the pigeon some cereal. After school, he runs home and ditches Beans and the other boys so he can check on the pigeon. He feels anxious, “realizing he was thinking of it as his pigeon, and what a dangerous thought that could be around here” (79). He's thrilled when the pigeon eventually shows up at his window.

The pigeon hops inside Palmer’s open window “cool as you please, like it owned the joint” (82). The bird walks around, climbs up Palmer’s hand, and nips his ear. He goes downstairs to eat dinner and comes back to find the bird roosting in his closet on top of the box housing his toy soldiers.

That evening, he does everything he’s supposed to so his mother won’t get suspicious. When his mother comes by to say goodnight, he asks if she can start knocking on his door before coming in. He says it’s because he’s getting older, but really, he doesn’t want her to see his pigeon. He goes to bed happy that night.

He wakes up to the pigeon nipping his ear, which leads him to name the bird Nipper. Over the next week, he falls into a routine with Nipper and he learns more about pigeons by reading books about them in the library. He’s surprised there’s so much to learn about pigeons. He doesn’t “trust anyone in town, except maybe Dorothy Gruzik” (89) with his secret.

The hardest part of Palmer’s new routine is acting normal when he’s in public.

Palmer is most afraid that Beans and the other boys will find out about Nipper. He decides he can never tell them, and he also realizes he can never let them come over to his house. Whenever Beans brings up going to Palmer’s house, Palmer says they should mess with Dorothy’s house. This usually works as a good diversion to keep them away from his place.

One day, the boys go to Beans’s house for the first time. Palmer is shocked to see that Beans lives in a normal, clean house, not a “hole, down by the creek” (99). Beans pulls out a frozen, dead muskrat from his freezer and explains that his cat, Panther, brought it home one day. His cat is a deadly hunter, Beans explains. Beans microwaves the muskrat carcass, and the boys follow Beans as he nails the dead animal to Dorothy’s door. Her mom finds it, and her screams “sent icy buckshot through” (104) Palmer’s body.

Beans and the other boys suddenly see a pigeon flying near Palmer’s house. Palmer lies and says he’s never seen a pigeon by his house. Later that night, when Palmer is in his room, he cries. He’s thankful to see Nipper at his window and pulls him close for comfort. Sometimes he wishes Nipper would fly away and not return, because then at least he wouldn’t be constantly worried for its safety. But he’s grown too attached to Nipper to actually make that wish.

Beans and the other boys continue to mess with Dorothy. Beans invents a game called “Treestumping,” which is where he stands directly in front of Dorothy as she’s walking so that she is forced to move around him. Dorothy never reacts, which angers Beans. One day, he gets so close to her face that they’re almost kissing. But instead of reacting to Beans, she asks Palmer, “Why are you doing this to me?” (112). Suddenly, Palmer realizes that she’s “no longer a target” (112) but is instead a young girl named Dorothy who used to be his friend.

That night, Nipper doesn’t show up at his window. Palmer connects Dorothy’s pain and Nipper’s absence. He falls asleep sad and worried, but he wakes up thrilled to find Nipper at his window. Nipper’s return makes Palmer realize that he needs to tell Dorothy about his secret.