That Was Then, This Is Now: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The next day, when Bryon returns Charlie’s car, he learns that Charlie has received his draft notice. When Bryon goes home, Mark still isn’t feeling well. Mark suggests that Bryon read him a book, as Bryon used to do when they were little. They then spend the afternoon talking about their childhood—how they used to play a game based on gang fighting called “Civil War” and before they got caught up in real gang fighting. Bryon thinks that he used to look forward to a fight, but now it’s getting a little boring.

Mark brings up other stories: once, he and Bryon got caught sneaking into a drive-in movie. The manager drove them to the police station, but they jumped out of the car when it was going 30 miles per hour. In another story, they shot water pistols at cops from the roof of a mall. They discuss the poker and pool games they played and the dates and parties they attended. Bryon reflects that other boys would come in and out of their friend group, but he and Mark always stayed together.

Mark tells Bryon that he feels like things are changing, and Bryon agrees. Mark points out that they used to think their gang fights were important, and that they and the other boys would have died for one another. Now, he laments, the others have slipped away. Mark says that it was as though the boys all made up a single person; it’s sad that they don’t need a gang as much now. Bryon says it’s kind of a good thing too—that they don’t need a gang to define their identities or personalities. Mark wonders what’s changed, and Bryon simply says, “that was then, and this is now.”

Mark still doesn’t feel well on Monday, so Bryon goes to school alone. There, everyone is mad at Angela, sympathizes with Curtis, and views Mark as a hero. Bryon feels like he’s standing apart from the rest of the kids and like he can see through them—what they are thinking and why they do things. He also gets the sense that his friends don’t actually like him for who he is. The next day, when Mark returns, Bryon shakes off this feeling, and everything seemingly returns to normal.

One day the following week, Terry Jones stops by the house and tells Bryon that Mark got caught driving the principal’s car that day. Terry assures Bryon that Mark was able to get out of punishment because he said he was driving to see his probation officer—he couldn’t make his appointment with the officer without a car. Bryon worries that Mark will be in jail the rest of his life, but Terry assures him that the principal laughed it off.

Just then, Mark walks in. Bryon is relieved that Mark isn’t in trouble but is furious about what he did. Mark tries to say sorry, but Bryon doesn’t believe he’s being sincere. Bryon concedes that as long as Mark isn’t in trouble, what he did was fine—figuring that Mark can get away with anything. Mark smiles like “an innocent lion” and agrees.