Rocket Boys: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

Homer Sr.’s eye hasn’t healed properly since the mining accident—he can’t see clearly, and probably never will. Elsie is angry with him for risking his life to save the miners, but she’s polite to him. In general, Homer’s family is cold and quiet: they almost never eat together, and while Homer is polite with his parents, he’s not warm or trusting.

One day, Homer is hitchhiking to school, having missed his bus because Jim took too long in the shower. As he’s walking, he notices Jake driving his Corvette. He hops in the car—this is the first time he’s seen Jake since the accident. Jake drives to Big Creek, past Geneva Eggers’s house. Jake greets Geneva like an old friend, and she seems happy to see both Homer and Jake.

At school, Jake walks Homer to chemistry. There, he seems pleased to meet Miss Riley—Homer notices that they make eye contact for a split-second too long. Jake talks to Miss Riley warmly, and Miss Riley replies in a voice sweeter than any she’s ever used in class. As he leaves the class, Jake whispers to Homer that he’ll drive him to school as often as he wants. Shortly thereafter, Homer reports, Jake and Miss Riley begin dating.

As the boys’ junior year draws to a close, the BCMA discusses its next steps. They need zinc and sulfate, as well as more scrap iron—and they still need to find a way to pay off Mr. Van Dyke. O’Dell explains that they can pay off their debt by finding and selling the scrap iron buried out by the railroad tracks: there are dozens of defunct iron drainage pipes there. The group agrees to this plan, since, O’Dell insists, it’s perfectly legal.

At the end of the June, the BCMA drives out to the abandoned tracks. There, they camp out with food and sleeping bags, knowing that it’ll take hours to find the pipes. The boys dig ten feet into the ground before they find what they’re looking for. They spend days digging up the area, while their food dries up and eventually gets moldy. Despite the rain and lack of food, Homer loves his camping experiences—he didn’t realize how miserable he’d been since the accident in the mine. Now, he can enjoy swimming in the nearby river, spending time with his best friends, and looking forward to the science fair.

After many days of work, the boys succeed in extracting ten pipes from the ground. While he’s removing the tenth pipe, Homer cuts his wrist, spurting blood everywhere. His friends use their T-shirts to tie the area around his wound, and then walk him to Frog Level, where Doc lives. There, Doc sutures Homer’s wrist. He offers Homer anesthetic, mentioning that Homer Sr. never needed it. Homer refuses anesthetic, but when Doc begins sewing the stitches, he screams that he wants it after all. Doc shakes his head—it’s too late. Homer yells to the other members of the BCMA to get their scrap iron. Reluctantly, they leave him to recover, and return to the railroad tracks.

The BCMA takes its scrap iron to a nearby scrap yard. There, they’re disappointed to find that they’ve only made twenty-two dollars. This means that, counting the cost of food and sleeping bags, they’ve made only four dollars. Jake Mosby saves the day by offering to settle their debt with Mr. Van Dyke, in return for which the BCMA will wash his Corvette “until the end of time.” Jake also buys the group ten pounds of zinc dust.