Owen helps John evade the draft by injuring his hand. John and Hester both oppose the war and are horrified. He enters the ROTC program at the University of New Hampshire, meaning he will go on active duty in Vietnam when he graduates. Owen is expelled from school because of his sarcastic attitude towards the headmaster. Owen is doing well academically and is offered full scholarships to Yale and Harvard. At Owen’s insistence, John and Owen spend a lot of time practicing a basketball trick play in which John lifts Owen over his head to dunk the ball, an illegal maneuver they call The Shot. As the boys age, Owen becomes a respected member of the school community, writing a popular column for the school newspaper, and dating a much older girl, John’s cousin Hester. Dan helps the boys remain friends despite this tragedy, and Owen tells John he is convinced that he is ‛God’s instrument.’ Owen participates in a school production of A Christmas Carol and believes he sees his own name and date of death on Ebeneezer Scrooge’s gravestone. At a game, he hits a foul ball that strikes John’s mother in the head, killing her. Although very small, Owen loves baseball and plays Little League. He gives the boys a stuffed toy of which Owen is particularly fond. When John’s mother, who refuses to tell him who his father is, marries a man named Dan Needham, Dan works to gain both Owen and John’s trust. Owen prefers to spend time with John’s family. As Owen and John work through their school days, John is impressed with Owen’s obvious intelligence.
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