Beartown

At the arena, the other team is jubilant that Kevin is not playing. When they try to go to their locker room, Benji is standing in from of the door, blocking it. He stares at them, silently. Two of them approach and throw punches. Benji fights the first four and knocks them down, then dares the rest to keep coming in the narrow corridor. Then Benji grins, opens his own locker room door, and the Bears begin to chant inside. David makes a brief speech and leads them to the ice, where they realize that Benji has already gone out and is waiting in the center of the rink. Bobo shows Amat his gloves: he has written “Shantytown hockey” (253) on them in marker, which is what he used to call the Hollow before becoming friends with Amat.

Amat quickly scores a goal. They lead 1-0 as the first period ends. Bobo scores and it is 2-2 after the second period. Benji scores, making it 3-2. He takes the puck and skates over to Gabi’s section. He throws the puck to her and her children.

David will tell his girlfriend about the game for many nights. Every player was the best version of themselves that they had ever been. He has never been so proud of them, even though the Bears lost in overtime. Once everyone has showered and changed, the opposing captain comes out to find Benji still lying on the ice. He shakes his hand and says he would be welcome on their team anytime.

David enters the locker room with a bag of pucks and begins passing them out. Some of the boys start to cry. Each puck is inscribed with the words, “Thank you.”

Outside, Bobo finds Gaby in her car and says that Benji is still inside, asking for her. He played most of the third period and all of overtime with a broken foot and didn’t tell anyone.

Lars takes the players to a hotel the sponsors have paid for. He says David went home to be there when Kevin is released. The team decides to go home as well to be with Kevin.

Ana is reading something on the computer in Maya’s room. Suddenly she picks up the computer and smashes it against the wall.

Peter tells Kira that Kevin’s actions are partially his fault because he helped the club nurture Kevin. Kira disagrees, but she wants to kill Kevin. Kira goes inside, sees the broken computer, and tells Ana she needs her to go home for a little while. Peter drives her home.

After getting home, Lyt and Bobo get together in the early morning. They gather with the rest of the juniors and walk through the town, trying to figure out what they can do: “They’re on the hunt for an enemy. Any will do” (271).

Kevin’s mother asks her husband to consider the possibility that Kevin might be guilty. He screams at her and asks her what sort of mother she is. She relents and apologizes.

Maya turns off her phone because of all of the anonymous, hateful, threatening texts she receives. She plays a video game with Leo for hours, but they don’t speak. When Isak died, Kira and Peter wished they had an enemy to face for taking him. Now they have one: “Hate is so much easier than its opposite” (275).

Benji goes to The Barn to see the bass player. They talk and then agree to meet in the woods. When they are there, the bass player says that he likes Benji’s hair. Benji wants to touch him but realizes he hasn’t had enough to drink, or smoke. He picks his crutches back up and says it was a mistake to come. The bass player says, “Big secrets turn us into small men” (277).

On Monday morning, Kira takes Maya to school but says that she doesn’t have to go in. Maya says she does have to and that she’s ready. She says she knows what people are saying and what she is in for. Kira drives away, parks the car, and screams.

David tells his girlfriend that he doesn’t know what to do about the Kevin situation. She says his job is to coach. He isn’t a lawyer or a policeman.

Jeanette tells the headmaster that they need to talk to the students about the rape allegation and investigation. He says he is under tremendous pressure and is relieved that at least Maya isn’t going to come to school.

The team decides to skip school after first period and go to Hed for a demonstration of solidarity when Kevin is released. On the way out, they ignore Maya’s locker, which is covered in marker, the same five-letter word, over and over.

When Kevin’s parents walk him out of the police station, Benji is sitting on a wall nearby. Kevin notices him and looks down.

When Ana walks into the cafeteria, Maya is sitting alone, with everyone staring at her. An older girl from the party approaches and says, “[A]s if anyone would want to rape you” (284). She throws milk at Maya and hits her in the forehead with a glass. Leo comes and sits next to her, even though she tells him it will get worse for him.

The police arrive at Kevin’s house to search it and his mother lets them in. They all seem to believe that the charges are a conspiracy against the team. Soon they are theorizing that Peter is behind it because they gave him too much power.

Kevin sits on his bed and tries to convince himself that he hasn’t done anything wrong. He hopes that if enough people support him, he will start to feel better. David comes in and asks him to tell him the truth. Kevin says he slept with Maya, but that it was consensual. David hugs him and Kevin asks if he can come to the practice that day.

When Kevin’s father picked him up, he had screamed at him in the car, asking how he could let himself get drunk a week before the final. If he hadn’t been drunk they wouldn’t be in the situation. He knows that if he lets anyone damage his name his business will fail. He goes into Kevin’s room and tells him and David that either they have to force Peter out, or Peter will force them out. Kevin says they need to talk to Amat.

Two men in a van stop and talk to Amat as he walks. They are from The Pack. They tell him that he has heart and then drive away. They say they look forward to watching him and Kevin play on the A-team, and Amat feels he has been threatened subtly.

The club president has been getting calls from sponsors threatening to withdraw support. He goes to Peter’s office and suggests that maybe he should go home until the situation is resolved. Peter tells him that his daughter was raped and that this is not a situation for the club to handle internally.

Maya leaves a class where everyone is silent, but they are passing notes about her and texting each other. She goes into the bathroom and smashes the mirror. Benji sees her go in. He follows her inside. She says that she knows he hates her. Benji says she is wrong, and that Kevin is no longer his friend.

Jeanette sees Maya leave the bathroom with a bloody hand. Then she hears the bathroom being destroyed. Benji rips the sink off the wall, smashes a toilet, and throws the trash can through the window. Jeanette knows that he did it so that Maya would not be blamed for the mirror. It takes the headmaster and two teachers to drag Benji out.

Kevin’s dad visits the Hollow to see Amat. He tells Amat that he knows a good physiotherapist who could help his mother with her pain. He also gives him the number of a business manager in Hed who could get her easier work. Amat thanks him. Then Kevin’s dad says that he knows Amat was drunk at the party, and that he himself has done a lot of stupid things while drinking, and has been mistaken about things he thought he has seen. He gives him 5,000 kronor and says that one day, when he is a pro, he is going to see that women will flock to him like “viruses” (308).

After he is alone, Amat drops the money in the snow and goes inside. He looks at the business card. He does not notice the black Saab parked nearby. When he goes back outside the money is gone.

Peter is out walking later. The black Saab drives by him as well.

David takes the team into the forest to do pushups, run, and compete in tug of war. Amat is there and completes every exercise. Kevin arrives with his father and the team cheers as he runs toward them.

Peter gets home from his walk and realizes he left the car at the rink. Kira hugs him. He tells him that because she moved here for him, he can move away for Maya. He can leave hockey behind. The president comes over and tells Peter that the board is going to take a vote on whether to fire him. Peter is allowed to be there to speak on his own behalf. Maya comes into the hall and stares at the president, forcing him to look her in the eye. After, Maya hugs Peter and tells him that she is sorry she ruined everything. He tells her that he wants to kill everyone who has hurt her, and when she asks him to come into the garage and play Nirvana with her, he agrees. Inside, Leo makes Kira play cards with him.

Benji goes to visit the bass player at a rehearsal space. When he arrives the bass player is playing a violin. They drink the moonshine Benji has bought. The bass player says he will teach Benji to dance if Benji will teach him to skate. He takes Benji’s hand, and Benji stands up and leaves.

Someone throws a stone through Maya’s window, with the word “BITCH” written on it. Peter and Maya hear the Volvo start and run out front to see Kira taking off after the vandals. She catches them quickly. It’s a 13- and 14-year-old boy. She gets close enough to hit one of them and they fall off their bikes. Then she takes a golf club out of the trunk and advances on them. Maya chases her in her bare feet and grabs her. They hold each other and cry as the terrified boys run away. Maya tells her that all of her friends used to call Kira “wolf mother” (322) because they all wanted a mother like her. Maya says she has wolf’s blood as well because she is her daughter.