chapter 16

Ishmael is infuriated being told what to do by the civilians. A few days before, they could have decided whether these people would live or die, so now they refuse to do anything but eat. At the end of every meal, the nurses and staff members come to talk to them about attending scheduled medical check-ups and the one-on-one counseling sessions in the psychosocial therapy center. They hate what these staff members are trying to do, so they attack them until they are basically left to wander about their new environment. That is the beginning of more violent behavior. They break into the hospital looking for drugs, but what medicines they find don’t give them the high they’re seeking. They also beat up people from the neighborhood and fight each other every day and night. They throw their mattresses out on the grass and the staffers always put them back. Finally, the mattresses are left in the rain and become soaked. They beat up the staff member who is in charge of supplies, because he won’t give them new mattresses. However, like all the other staff, he never shows anger about what they do and continues to smile and tell them that what they do isn’t their fault. Ishmael’s migraines also return with a vengeance, but no one pays any attention to his pain, because they are all going through withdrawl from the drugs.. One day, the boys decide to break all the windows in the schoolroom. For some reason, Ishmael decides to break one window with his fist and pushes it back and forth through the window until he must be taken to the hospital. The nurse gently removes pieces of glass from his hand, but it doesn’t matter how gentle she is, because Ishmael feels no pain. She tries to find out his name and rub his head after she bandages his wounds. However, he won’t let her touch him. The next day, Ishmael faints from a migraine and once again is taken to the hospital. He awakens and walks out again. Then, he faints a second time, and when he awakens this time, the nurse tells him he just shouldn’t leave again. Then, she injects him with a sedative to calm and he finally sleeps.