The Marrow Thieves

Frenchie and his brother, Mitch, are hiding in a tree house, having found a bag of Doritos in an empty house. School truancy officers—“Recruiters, we called them” (2)—track Frenchie and Mitch. Mitch instructs Frenchie to climb out the window and hide in the tree. Frenchie does as Mitch tells him, and Mitch makes noise to attract the Recruiters to himself. 

As Frenchie hides, he remembers hearing about the schools from his father, whom he has not seen in a long time. Frenchie’s family, like other Native families, decide to become nomadic, heading north to avoid the schools. Frenchie recalls, “I’d felt kind of special then, before I knew how dangerous special could be” (6). Frenchie’s recollections end noting that his family did not move north as planned, as his father never returned.

Once the Recruiters leave with Mitch, Frenchie gathers his backpack and goes on the run. He develops a cough and starts running out of supplies as he heads north. While running, Frenchie recalls the last time he saw his mother, before he and Mitch were on their own together. He realizes that there is “[n]o one to take care of me now. No one to make me move” (13).