Deadly, Unna?: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Back in present day, Blacky leaves Pickles and walks alone along the coast. He enjoys looking at the rocky shore because the rocks house a community of diverse sea life. He stops beside Black Rock, a rock he and his siblings have claimed as their own because it is near their home. Blacky thinks the rock looks like an indigenous person’s bum, so it should therefore be called Bum Rock (but no one agrees with him). His siblings are already on the rock, playing football. Blacky realizes, hopelessly, that his little sister Jenny is better at kicking the ball than he is.

Blacky goes inside to see his mother, who is reading a book and doing laundry. Blacky notes that his mother spends a lot of time in the laundry room, not just because their large family produces a lot of dirty laundry, but also because the room offers her a brief escape from her children. His mother is currently reading a romance book, the only kind of book she reads. Blacky reads her romance books from time to time when he finds them lying around the house, but he never finishes them. He worries this is a bad sign for his future dating life. His mother, being a fast reader, always finishes the books.

Blacky and Mum discuss the big game on Saturday. Mum tells him the whole town is coming to watch the team play. Blacky wonders if his dad will come. The old man has never shown any interest in football. Blacky doesn’t know why, but he hopes his father will come to the game, maybe so he can show his father he’s not a coward after all. Mum assures Blacky that his father said he’s coming. Blacky says he’ll probably forget because of all his drinking. Mum tells him not to talk like that.

Blacky wonders why his mother ever married and had kids with his father. He remembers an old photo he saw of his father as a young man on a motorbike where he looked tough. He thinks that maybe a girl would fall for that man. The picture reminded him of a boy at school named Jimmy Downes. Blacky knows there are three types of tough: those who act tough but aren’t, those who don’t act tough but are, and those who both act tough and are tough. Downes both acts tough and is truly tough.

Jimmy Downes is always in trouble at school and often gets into fights. He dates a rich, smart girl. Blacky has heard Downes brag about what he’s done with this girl. Blacky realizes that Downes talks with the same incorrect grammar as Blacky’s own father.