The Honest Truth

Jessie is moments away from dialing the hotline number, reasoning that if she gives an anonymous tip, nobody would know that she kept the secret for so long and Mark wouldn’t suspect her disloyalty. After dialing the first few numbers, she recalls a third-grade memory. Mark was hospitalized, and while his parents left to grab food, he tearfully took Jessie’s hand. Mark wants to be strong for his parents, and he asked Jessie whether she will let him be vulnerable. She agrees to “hold [his] secret” (118), opening a safe space for Mark’s emotions. Later, when Jessie’s parents divorced, she could go to Mark without shame and mourn the loss of her family’s happiness. Mark says to her, “Count on me, Jess. […] And I’ll count on you. We’re the ones we can always count on. Right?” (119). The memory bolsters Jess’s determination to keep Mark’s secret, and she hangs up the telephone.

Submerged in icy water, Mark attempts to guide himself toward the sandy island, but the currents are stronger and the water colder than he expected. Beau jumps in the water after him, eventually catching his jaws around Mark’s collar. Mark grabs hold of a log and kicks toward the shore. He climbs to land alive, but he shivers violently “like a car wreck” (24). He digs in his backpack—still strapped to his back—for materials he intended to save for the mountain: matches, old newspapers, and Vaseline-coated cotton balls. He lights a fire, then strips to his underwear to let his wet clothes dry, leaning into the fire as much as he dares. He stays awake until his clothes dry completely, throws a few more large logs on the fire, and catches some sleep before morning. A few hours later, Mark writes a haiku about that dark night and the company of friend and fire. Mark and Beau carefully make their way across the log and walk alongside the highway again. After a while, a cigar-smoking truck driver rolls down his window and invites Mark inside.

Jessie’s mom encourages her to go back to school, but Jessie is wary of her classmates’ reactions to her. She doesn’t know whether she can keep Mark’s secret under so many eyes, and she doesn’t want to return without her best friend beside her. Even worse, she realizes that life without Mark may be the new normal: “This is how it might always be now. Every day. With him gone. Forever” (136). Jess refuses to go to school, and her mom concedes.