This poem for two voices is taken from the chapter entitled, "Rowdy Sings the Blues." The chapter is the emotional departure between Junior and Rowdy. Condensing the chapter into some reconfigured lines helped to concentrate the emotional power. The cross roads that Junior faces is directly created by the crushing poverty he lives in. Mr. P tells him to leave the reservation in order to escape his inevitable death. In a sense, Rowdy and Junior have a moment where both understand their very different destinies: Rowdy for death, and Junior for Life. Its a dark scene and a heavy dramatic dialogue because at this point in the book, their individual paths feel set in stone. Mr. P explains that Rowdy hasn't beat junior up because he doesn't want to give up their relationship, but to Rowdy, Junior threw that away when he decided to leave the reservation. Poverty shaped the way both boys see the world. Both come to the realization that the reservation is a place of death, that its all a cycle. While Rowdy fights as a reaction to the cycle and the anger it produces, Junior fights against the cycle that has his whole family and people trapped. The duel voices highlight the interaction between Junior and Rowdy. It gives Rowdy a powerful voice so the audience can begin to not only see his perspective on Junior's move to Reardan, but also the effect that poverty has on him.
For this genre, I imagined what Mr. P would say to Junior after the basketball game where he was knocked out by Rowdy. The letter talks about the path that Rowdy was taking and the importance of Junior persevering to break the cycle of poverty he was born into. Its a letter of admiration and affirmation for the strength Junior has shown, continuing to fight against a whole host of factors that try to suck him back into the reservation, back into the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. From Mr. P's perspective as an older white man, he is able to recognize the violence that he and the system heap upon Native Americans and try to change it in whatever ways he can. In the beginning of the book he does so by telling junior to leave. I decided to write a letter to show what it would look like if Mr. P had played a more active and coaching roll in Junior's first year at Reardan. Below is a typed version of the letter.