Tom’s unexpected death means certain poverty for the family and unless they respond quickly and pragmatically they are destined for ‘Those slum shacks in Mahoney Street, what they call the Valley of Death on account of the diphtheria’ (page 148). The Westaway family faces a series of difficult choices, some easier to resolve than others. The Westaway home is full of cakes which have been dropped by from well-meaning ‘friends and neighbours and people from the church and mothers from school’ (page146). Given he criticised Kip in ‘Jack’ for pretending to be The Shadow, by accusing him of being ‘a baby’, this sets up the idea that Frank is full of contradictions.
The chapter begins with ‘thirteen ’ (page 147) Frank pretending to be Cranston, ‘an American crime-busting hero, worshipped by boys the world over’ (page 98). This chapter explores the day Frank is confronted with a series of choices, ultimately compelling him to make a choice about who he wants to be-an academic boy or a petty thief. The events in this chapter occur before Chapter One, so the non-linear structure means that the reader has to keep cross-referencing the chapter with the events of ‘Kip’ and ‘Jack’. This chapter allows the reader to experience Frank’s perspective as teenager just before (and then after) the funeral of his father. This is the first chapter with a recognisable character’s name as the chapter title, highlighting to the reader how well they have come to know the Westaway family.
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