Outcast

Avery's little sister Meg has become a problem. Her young age (she is 11, in the last phases of natural indifference) has allowed her to do many things Avery longs to do. She is allowed to make sand castles at the beach without looking stupid, go to the movies with her parents without being ashamed of them, and play on the monkey bars at the playground without being accused of child molesting. Avery had done all these things: sand castles, monkey bars, movies; but he longs for more. However, since he is 13, and therefore in the beginning stages of natural rebellion, he is looked down upon when he tries to, say, play jump rope in the park. He knows the turning of age 12 signifies the beginning of natural rebellion; of course, natural rebellion climaxes at 16 and seven months, but the cutoff for childish behavior is at 12. Subsequently, all actions after the turning of 12 suggests natural rebellion, and one may never resort to childlike, capricious behavior until natural conformity, when one has children of one's own. Avery, therefore, is in trouble. He is struggling to establish himself in natural rebellion. He is hesitant to toilet paper houses and play ding-dong-ditch. He does not like to swear in public and cause mothers to shield their children from him. Meg is further complicating his troubles by insisting on his presence at such adolescent events as the carnival, the local puppet show, and the birthday party of her imaginary friend Johnny. Of course Johnny will have to be assassinated upon the arrival of Meg's 12th birthday, but she is not aware of that yet.

Today Avery is taking Meg and Johnny to the zoo. He is wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap so he looks cool. He is walking with a slouch, so it looks as if he is being forced to accompany his little sister. He does everything he can to stifle suggestions that he is sympathetic and loving and not moving forward in the phases of natural rebellion. But in reality he is enjoying the zoo and mourning Meg's upcoming birthday. He has a feeling she might end up in the outcast division of natural rebellion, where the mama's boys and the daddy's girls go. Right now she is swinging her arms and skipping and talking to Johnny. She is wearing an old sweater of their mother's, which is not at all in accordance with the fashion rules of teenagers that Avery has memorized. She is breaking two rules: first, the sweater is her mother's, and therefore un-cool; second, the sweater is neon pink, and therefore not in the acceptable color palette of teenage wear. Avery, Meg, and Johnny stop to look at the penguins. Meg starts waddling around as if she were a penguin, and Avery tells her to "stop, stop, people are looking." Meg waddles up to a Hispanic man not carrying his sombrero and starts squawking. Avery, turning red, takes his little sister by the hand and apologizes to the crowd that has gathered. He is ashamed of Meg, who is giggling and saying "what, what, what's wrong?" They move on to the fish section. There is a large sign that reads Ocean-City: Experience the Beauty of the Oceans. Meg wants to see the dolphins. Where are the dolphins? There are stingrays and eels and even piranhas. "Where are the dolphins?" Avery asks one of the zookeepers, and the zookeeper says the dolphins are in the Mammal section. "Well, why don't they put them here where all the other fish are?" Meg asks. The zookeeper looks impatient and says that dolphins are mammals and therefore go in the mammal section of the zoo. "That's stupid because they all live in the ocean together, they should all be in the same sections of the zoo," Meg says. Avery tells Meg to be quiet and they walk over to the dolphin tank in Mammal-City. Meg stares at the dolphins for a very long time before they go to see the tigers, which are next to the dolphin tank. Avery sees a girl and immediately pretends he doesn't know Meg, who is trying to make a tiger wave at her as one of the dolphins did. The girl passes by and Avery comes back to Meg and tells her she is dumb for trying to make the tigers wave because they don't have flippers. "Do you think they can jump and swim like dolphins?" Meg starts to cry and Avery feels bad. He looks around before he kneels in front of her and gives her a hug. She pushes him away, because he doesn't understand. Avery asks her where Johnny is, maybe Johnny can cheer her up. Meg starts to cry even harder. "Johnny's dead," she cries. "Johnny's dead."