Two Roads

C.B., the boys’ advisor, wakes Cal up. On Cal’s first day, C.B. could not wake Cal, so he threw the boy into the horse’s trough and drenched him in water. Now Cal knows better than to let it go that far. Every night, the boys leave through the window to go to an old outhouse rather than using the highly unsanitary bathroom in the dorm. Possum warns Cal never to go by the old guardhouse at night because some children died in the guardhouse.

Cal must learn how to perform well for the Sunday Dress Parade, and it takes him a while to get the hang of things. Some of the students perform elaborate cultural dances for white people in the neighboring areas in an attempt to create a good reputation for the school, but students from the eastern tribes do not participate in this practice. Their stomp dances are less dramatic as they are part of the so-called “Civilized Tribes.” Possum tells Cal that the government is trying to kill their Indigenous heritage, and Cal realizes that the government wants to make them obedient. He does not like how it feels to be treated in such a manner even though he still does not feel Creek.