Al Capone Does My Shirts: Chapter 6: Sucker Summary & Analysis

Moose walks past the creepily silent cell house. The convicts aren’t allowed to talk, but how is it so quiet? Do the convicts spend their days watching everyone outside? Moose approaches the fancy mansion across the road from the cell house, tripping as he climbs the stairs. When he rings the bell, the warden answers the door and invites Moose in for tea. The warden tells Moose to head up the stairs to his library, which is filled with thick books that almost certainly have indexes that Natalie would love. A minute later, the warden arrives with his tea, sits at his desk, starts working, and tells Moose to sit down. Moose hits his arm on the chair arm as he complies.

Before the warden can say anything, someone knocks on the door—and Piper comes in. Beaming at his daughter, the warden asks her if she’d like to sit in and invites her to chime in as necessary. Then, turning to Moose, the warden says he always meets with new convicts, but seldom with new civilians. He says that here, children always follow the rules, as this is a “small town with a big jail” that contains the worst men in the country who have nothing but time to plot their escapes. Moose stays silent, but he thinks this is stupid—if the warden is so worried about prisoners escaping, why do women and children live on the island? He knows it’s because rent on Alcatraz is cheap compared to in San Francisco, and he knows the warden wants guards close if something does happen, but still.

Then, the warden says there are a few rules that Moose must obey. Moose can never speak to or approach the convicts, even if they’re out helping a family paint or load stuff at the docks. Women must dress modestly at all times; no bathing suits and no underwear in the laundry. Telling Piper to cover her ears, the warden whispers to Moose that he must understand what it means that some of these men haven’t seen a woman in 15 years. Resuming his normal tone, the warden reminds Moose that the convicts are “conniving.” He continues to say that Moose can’t enter fenced areas, can’t have visitors unless he’s requested it in writing a week prior, and he can’t talk about prisoners to outsiders.

Specifically, the warden says, Moose can’t talk about Al Capone, as that will attract reporters. He threatens to send Moose back to where he came from if Moose speaks about Al Capone, but the warden seems to sense that Moose would like that. The warden says he knows Moose wants Natalie to have a chance at school, but Moose asks to leave Natalie out of this. Agreeing, the warden shares the final rules, which are that Moose must go through the metal detectors when he comes and goes from the island, can’t have any pets, no toy guns, and no metal or glass in the trash (so the convicts won’t make weapons). Finally, the warden says that Moose is the only Alcatraz kid who will attend school with Piper, and he was wondering if Moose would help Piper carry her school projects to and from school. Moose agrees, feeling like a “sucker.”