Al Capone Does My Homework

On the parade grounds, Donny catches up to Moose and tells him to ignore Darby, whom he calls a “blowhard.” Moose responds warmly to Donny’s concern for him; he feels that the older man is still partly a kid at heart and so understands him. Donny visits Alcatraz only two days a week to have his laundry done for free by the cons, but Moose wishes he would come more often. Now, Donny warns Moose that his father is in a “tight spot” because the cons will be “testing” him to locate his weaknesses. Added to this, Darby Trixle, who wanted the associate warden job for himself, will be working to undermine him.

Back at #2E, the Flanagans’ apartment, Moose finds his sister Natalie, who is prone to repetitive behavior, flushing the toilet repeatedly. Mrs. Kelly, Natalie’s no-nonsense teacher of “social graces,” enlists Moose to help teach Natalie how to relate normally to others—such as by looking them in the eye—so she can eventually “blend.” Moose, uncomfortable with this added pressure, nevertheless comes up with the idea of taping flashcards of math problems to his forehead since Natalie’s eye is drawn to anything involving math, at which she is a prodigy. Mrs. Kelly reminds Moose that he will someday be fully responsible for Natalie’s care, so he should start getting used to it.

Uncomfortable with Mrs. Kelly’s reminder, Moose leaves and climbs the switchback to the warden’s mansion atop Alcatraz to visit his sometime-friend Piper, the warden’s pretty daughter. Moose likes Piper’s “outsides, but not her insides” but can’t seem to get over his infatuation with her (12). Also, she knows all about the inner workings of Alcatraz, so he thinks she might be able to help him protect his father. Piper does not greet him warmly, scolding him for playing baseball with his friend Annie instead of visiting her. She also suggests that he give her gifts to prove his friendship, the same way Alcatraz’s prisoners show their “loyalty” to the mobster Al Capone, whom she seems to admire. To illustrate, she shows him a fancy turquoise sweater that she says was given to her by a “secret admirer.” She also shows him a piece of paper that was found in the convict cafeteria, a handwritten chart listing prestige “points” for offenses against guards and wardens, including spitting, stabbing, and killing. Stabbing and killing a warden earns a “death bonus” of 5,000 points, which would give the killer bragging rights as the “toughest guy” at Alcatraz, the “roughest” prison in the country. Piper reminds Moose that there are only two wardens at Alcatraz. She tells him to “stick close” to her if he wants to protect his father. As usual when dealing with Piper, Moose values her knowledge but also feels vaguely manipulated.

Later that evening, Moose finishes his paper for school, which is about President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s polio, and prepares to watch Natalie since their parents are going out with the Williamses to celebrate Cam’s first day on the job. Theresa Mattaman, the eight-year-old sister of Moose’s friend, Jimmy, comes in without knocking, saying she has a message from Piper. The message is for Moose to remember to buy Piper flowers as a token of friendship. Theresa and Piper have not gotten along in the past, but Theresa says the older girl now pays her and gives her things, so she does what she asks. Moose’s best friend, the blonde-haired Annie, now comes to the door, and Moose reassures her that his father’s new job will not interfere with their playing together; nothing, he insists, will come between them and baseball.

After his friends leave, Moose settles down in his room to watch Natalie, who is engaged in one of her favorite habits, flicking the light switch on and off. Though he tries to keep himself awake by propping his head up with pillows, he soon falls asleep and dreams of toasting marshmallows over a campfire. With a shock, he awakes to find the apartment on fire. Natalie, who is curled up on the floor, does not want to move, and only with great difficulty is Moose able to drag her out of his room and into the living room, where he manages to break a window with a side table. Fortunately, most of the flames seem to be coming from the kitchen. After trying to curl up into a ball on the living room floor, where the air is less smoky, Natalie finally listens to her brother and escapes out the window, clutching her box of buttons. Moose follows, and as the two of them land in a jumble outside, neighbors, including Mrs. Mattaman and Donny Caconi, rush to their aid. 

After much coaxing, Moose gets Natalie, who is “hunkered down” beside him on the ground, to follow him down the stairs to the foot of the guard tower, where Piper, Annie, and the Mattaman siblings are standing, watching the fire. Annie hugs him, and Piper whispers to him her suspicion that the fire is somehow connected with his father’s promotion. Meanwhile, firefighters, directed by Darby and his bullhorn, struggle to control the blaze. Moose’s and Piper’s parents still have not come back from the city. Before long, the fire is out, and the Flanagans’ apartment is mostly intact, though extensively charred and drenched with water. Annie’s father, Mr. Bomini, who burned his hand fighting the blaze, has been taken to the city to have it treated.

As neighbors speculate about how the fire might have started, Darby and his wife, Bea, accuse Natalie of causing it by playing with matches. Trying to remain calm, Moose defends his sister, insisting that she was asleep in his room when the fire started. He argues that just because she’s “different” doesn’t mean she’s guilty. However, he secretly has his doubts, and feels like a “chump” for having fallen asleep; it’s possible, he thinks, that Natalie might have started the fire while playing with the kitchen burners. Donny tries to placate Bea, arguing that the fire could have started by itself. Bea turns her anger on Mrs. Mattaman, who has offered to put Natalie and Moose up for the night, demanding she “keep watch” over Natalie so she doesn’t burn the whole apartment house down and referring derogatorily to Natalie’s developmental disability with a slur. Moose tells her that his sister is “better than normal” (31). Natalie, fascinated with numbers even in a crisis, provides an exact count of the windows in the building: 116.

At the Mattamans’ apartment, Moose and Jimmy ponder who might have set the fire; since the convicts were all on lockdown, it must have been a resident. Jimmy, a science enthusiast, tells Moose about his latest hobby: growing cheese in his navel. Moose’s parents come in, still in their evening clothes, and are greatly relieved to see their children are safe. According to Cam, the family has been offered temporary residence in the vacant house of Mr. Chudley, the former associate warden, who left under suspicion of corruption. Worriedly, Cam draws Moose aside and asks him what he knows about the fire. Moose describes his and Natalie’s escape from the burning apartment but skims over the part where he fell asleep. He fears having to tell his father about this blunder and has even been trying to convince himself that it didn’t happen. His father is far from satisfied with his explanation, but Moose cuts the conversation short, saying he doesn’t want to keep the Mattamans up.

The next morning, Moose asks Natalie if she knows anything about the fire. She says she thinks it started in the kitchen, but Moose realizes she is just parroting what he told her—a habit of hers. When they go in for breakfast, Theresa tells them that Janet Trixle, who is seven, told her that Natalie burned down the apartment and that her father Darby will soon be warden. When Cam arrives, Mrs. Mattaman asks to speak to him alone. Moose pretends to leave but doubles back and hides behind the sewing machine to listen. Mrs. Mattaman tells Cam that the Trixles are trying to pin the blame for the fire on Natalie. Bea, she says, has even threatened to contact Natalie’s special school and tell them that she starts fires. Mrs. Mattaman and Cam ponder whether Darby, angry over being passed over for promotion, may be trying to get back at him through Natalie. Moose sneaks back to Jimmy’s room and tells him that he would like to avoid talking to his father about the fire. Jimmy offers to help without asking why.

Though it is a Monday, Moose and his friends have been given the day off from school due to the fire. Moose and Jimmy visit the “Chudley place” where the Flanagans will be staying until their apartment is repaired; it is a big house with huge rooms, perched on one of the highest points of the island. Determined to find out who started the fire, Moose asks Jimmy to help him organize a “team” to solve the mystery. They decide to include Annie for her problem-solving skills and Piper for her inside knowledge of the island; Theresa, Jimmy says, will come along free since she is now Piper’s paid “slave.” They plan to hold their first meeting in 64 building’s “secret passageway,” a crawlspace that runs under the Caconis’ apartment and an adjoining vacant one. Moose reluctantly agrees to bring Natalie along since she might remember some pertinent details about the night of the fire. When he goes to fetch his sister, however, his mother, who seems worried that Natalie might have started the fire, urges him not to investigate.

The six kids quietly make their way through the crawlspace until they are under the Caconis’ apartment. They can hear Donny talking on the phone, and, though they try not to eavesdrop, it sounds as if he owes someone money. Annie mentions that Donny has been trying, without success, to borrow money from her father. Piper, bossy as always, interrupts them to say that they need to search the Flanagans’ apartment for clues and then ask the cons what they know. She seems convinced that a convict started the fire, even though they were locked up for the night. Piper says the cons often have helpers on the outside, such as Chudley, the former associate warden, who she says was fired for corruption. As the kids ponder how to deliver a message to the cons, Jimmy suggests tying one to a cockroach, since the cons use them to send cigarettes to each other. First, they resolve to search Moose’s apartment, which will require great caution and secrecy due to the fire damage.