Summary

Thomas recalls an instance when he was 12 years old. The local church, St. Paul’s, was almost completely destroyed in a fire that was deliberately started with mason jars of gasoline. Thomas and Herbie are the prime suspects, but Herbie was an alter boy and had keys to the church. A few days after the fire, a statue of Jesus was found to be vandalized with lipstick, blush, and breasts displayed on the effigy. When Herbie and Thomas are brought in for questioning by Father Dern, Herbie claims it could not have been Thomas because he “wouldn’t dare” and is “a little baby” (40). Both boys deny having anything to do with the fire at all.

Fast forward to present day, Thomas returns to his hometown in Minnesota. He stops by the house he grew up in, enters the backyard, lays down beside a...