Summary

Chapter 16 is titled “Don’t Know Why I Didn’t Call.” This chapter begins with author Johnson’s story of leaving his parents’ house in New Jersey after a visit for Christmas. He describes how much he enjoyed being around all the love in his family, and how he stayed connected with the love and connection he felt with his fraternity brothers, particularly one named Kenny. He adds that his life in Virginia felt much more like home than his life in New Jersey. There, he says, he “didn’t have to compromise [his] identity for the appeasement of others” (280). He also describes how, as he was leaving, his father gave him a hug. This was unusual, he says. “Maybe he sensed just how tough this day was going to get” (280).

On the drive down, Johnson describes calling his various...