Fuzzy Mud

SunRay Farm, located northwest of Woodridge Academy, is a heavily guarded “farm” that has no noticeable crops. Instead, it has tunnels and pipes and an underground laboratory. The residents of Heath Cliff know little about SunRay Farm or its product, Biolene. The narrative presents a confidential excerpt from secret hearings conducted a year earlier by the US Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment. Senators Wright and Foote interview Dr. Marc Humbard, a microbiologist who worked at SunRay Farm.

Jonathan Fitzman, a peculiar genius, created Biolene as a new form of clean energy. He altered the DNA of microscopic slime mold and grew a new life form. Dr. Humbard, however, thinks it’s “an abomination of nature” (9). The senators wonder if Biolene is a safe alternative to automobile fuel. Dr. Humbard is outraged that SunRay Farm grows these organisms only to kill them by using them to power car engines. Senator Wright retorts that this is the fundamental process of farming.

As Tamaya waits to walk with Marshall after school, she remembers her lunchroom gaffe with embarrassment. She’s angry at her friends for not sticking up for her. The school motto is “Virtue and Valor,” and the school strives to instill important virtues in its students (12). Tamaya is proud of being a good girl and wonders why being good makes her feel like an outcast.

Tamaya and Marshall pretend not to be friends at school. She thinks Marshall is brave and appreciates how he looked out for her when she started at Woodridge in second grade. Tamaya crushed on Marshall for a few years, but lately he has been “a jerk.” Tamaya is surprised and alarmed when Marshall wants to take a shortcut home through the woods. The November woods are spooky, but Tamaya worries more about breaking the rules and getting caught. Marshall tersely tells her not to be a baby. Tamaya, putting on a brave front, follows Marshall under a gap in the schoolyard fence into the forbidden woods. She thinks she’s not a “goody-goody” now.

Marshall used to enjoy school. He played in the band, got good grades, and had many friends until a new student, Chad Hilligas, came to Woodridge. Chad was expelled from three schools within two years and his next stop was juvenile detention, but his parents’ wealth helped him get into Woodridge. Typically, Woodridge only accepts smart students, like Tamaya, or wealthy students. Marshall’s parents have good jobs but must sacrifice to afford Woodridge.

Chad creates a stir at Woodridge. Boys enjoy his exaggerated stories about his crimes, and girls are attracted to his bad-boy attitude. Marshall was initially drawn to Chad until—in reacting to one of Chad’s tales—he commented “No way!” Marshall meant “Awesome!”—but Chad thought Marshall was calling him a liar. Chad turned everyone against Marshall, and Marshall lost all his friends. Now, Chad and others bully Marshall constantly, and his grades have slipped. At home, he no longer plays with his twin four-year-old siblings. Marshall takes out his frustration on Tamaya. On this day, Marshall correctly answered a question in class right after Chad got it wrong, making Chad angry. Chad wants to fight Marshall after school on a street corner that Marshall and Tamaya pass every day. This threat prompts Marshall to suggest that he and Tamaya take a “shortcut” through the woods.

Tamaya struggles to follow the speedy, irritable Marshall along the rugged path. She wonders how to explain her dirty, ripped uniform to her mother. Tamaya never lies to her mother. Though very smart, Tamaya doesn’t understand why her parents separated when she was in first grade or why they won’t get back together.

Marshall is lost. Tamaya imagines that her parents will reunite to save them. Tamaya tries to keep up as Marshall climbs a ravine but catches her sweater on a tree branch and falls. She rips a large hole in her sweater and knows it will be expensive for her mother to replace. Tamaya is also distressed about her sweater because she likes her uniform, with its school motto, and likes being part of the school’s history. Marshall apologizes. Tamaya waits while he climbs a hill to get his bearings.

Tamaya sees an unusual, dark puddle of mud over which a strange “fuzzy yellowish-brown scum” (26) is floating, or perhaps hovering. Oddly, there are leaves on either side of the puddle, but none on top. Tamaya sees the rough-looking older boy who was telling stories at lunch coming toward her. She thinks his name is Chad. She calls out to Marshall that help has arrived.

In another confidential excerpt from the secret Senate inquiry about SunRay Farm, Senators Foote, Wright, and March interview Jonathan Fitzman, the creator of Biolene. Fitzman waves his arms excitedly as he talks, explaining that he has trouble sitting still. Fitzman quit college and lived with his parents to work on creating an “ergie,” a nickname for “ergonym.” Fitzman’s ergie is a tiny microorganism that produces lots of energy. He estimates every gallon of Biolene has a “gazillion” ergies. Fitzman jokes that he has a tattoo of an ergie but it’s so small the senators would need to use an electron microscope to see it. Fitzman now has wealthy backers and works in a fantastic laboratory at SunRay Farm. He believes that the first gallon of Biolene cost around $500 million, while the second gallon cost only 19 cents.

Tamaya is initially glad to see Chad. She chatters and warns him not to step in the mud. Chad ignores her talk. He spits on the ground and goes after Marshall, who then appears. Tamaya realizes something is wrong. Chad says he thinks Marshall was trying to make him look foolish by leaving him waiting on the street corner. Marshall counters that he had to walk Tamaya home. Chad pushes Marshall, punches him in the face and neck multiple times, and then knocks him down. Tamaya shouts at Chad to leave Marshall alone, but he threatens that she will be next. He knees Marshall in the head. Tamaya grabs a handful of the fuzzy mud and shoves it in Chad’s face. He staggers away, holding his face.

Marshall and Tamaya run away. She trips and falls, scraping her knees and hurting her wrist. Marshall returns for her. His face is bloody. Chad is nowhere in sight. Marshall explains that things are different in seventh grade and that Chad will come after them in the future. Smoke from a chimney leads them out of the forest to a road in a subdivision. Marshall knows where they are. Tamaya’s right hand feels strangely “fizzy.” The chapter ends with two equations: 2 x 1 = 2 and 2 x 2 = 4.