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5. Call of Duty
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Look Both Ways, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Perspective and Assumptions
Independence, Freedom, and Identity
Joy, Resilience, and Childhood
Fear, Friendship, and Support
Bullying
Summary
Analysis
The first thing that’s easier to do than Simeon and Kenzi’s secret handshake is getting through the hallway after the bell rings. This is because Simeon is big for his age, and extremely happy. So as soon as the bell rings, Ty races out of Mr. Davanzo’s class (probably because Mr. Davanzo doesn’t believe in bathroom breaks during class) and Simeon gives everyone else a high-five as they leave. He then approaches Mr. Davanzo and they do their secret handshake—which is “elementary” compared to his handshake with Kenzi.
The list format of this story creates the sense that Simeon and Kenzi’s handshake is immensely complicated. Ty leaves class quickly because, as “Call of Duty” showed, he has to get out of school and thank Bryson. But Simeon doesn’t know this, and his perspective colors why he thinks Ty is in such a hurry. Simeon also establishes himself as a good-natured kid who’s friends with everyone, teachers and students alike.
Themes
Kenzi Thompson is tied for the smallest kid in the class with Bit. He doesn’t have a nickname like Bit, and if anyone tried to give him one, Kenzi would do nothing but tell Simeon. Simeon would also do nothing, but this is because at his size, a look is more than enough. Except for his small stature and the blue bouncy ball he carries everywhere, Kenzi doesn’t stand out. He’s not that tough, weird, or smelly. He’s friends with everyone—though that’s perhaps not entirely correct. Kenzi is friends with Simeon, and Simeon is friends with everyone, since being Simeon’s enemy isn’t a good idea. So, Kenzi “walk[s] the middle of every line” until the bell rings.
Simeon might be a good-natured kid, but this passage also implies that he’s not someone people want to cross—his size in and of itself is a threat. So, being Simeon’s friend is a big help to Kenzi, since Kenzi so small and nonthreatening. Being Simeon’s friend is essentially how Kenzi manages to survive at school. He may avoid bullying because he has Simeon to protect him, and he has no reason to bully anyone else because, again, Simeon is there to make things easier for him.
Themes
While Kenzi’s classmates hurry out of Mr. Fantana’s class, Kenzi stays put. He knows he can’t get to his locker with all the bigger kids and their pointy elbows. He’s been hit before and has even had his lip split open by kids gesticulating wildly. So, Kenzi waits until Simeon bursts into Mr. Fantana’s room, awkwardly greets the teacher, and gives Mr. Fantana a handshake. Only then does Kenzi even get up from his desk. The boys put their hands out, but Mr. Fantana tells them to please not do their handshake here. It takes too long, and he has a life. Simeon pretends to take offense and squats so Kenzi can leap onto his back. Then, they’re off. The crowds part as Simeon runs with Kenzi.
While other kids at school, like Ty, fear verbal violence, Kenzi is afraid that he’s going to get stepped on because he’s so small and his classmates simply don’t notice him. His friendship with Simeon ensures, essentially, that Kenzi is going to be noticed and therefore is going to be safe. Kenzi and Simeon’s handshake is apparently well-known around school, if Mr. Fantana is begging them to not do it here and now. Simeon shows again how much of a jokester he is when he pretends to take offense. However, it’s possible that on some level, he is offended. Mr. Fantana is, after all, not allowing the boys to fully express their friendship by forbidding the handshake.
Themes
The second thing easier than Simeon and Kenzi’s handshake is convincing Ms. Wockley to not get the boys in trouble for pretending to be in a horse race. Simeon insists to Ms. Wockley that they weren’t pretending to be in a horse race, but Ms. Wockley’s whole job is to get kids in trouble for things. Very seriously, Ms. Wockley says that Kenzi was on Simeon’s back yelling “yee-haw” and miming spinning a lasso. She repeats the motion, and the boys try not to laugh. Ms. Wockley says the boys must keep their feet on the ground. Kenzi asks why Pia gets special treatment, since she rides her skateboard through the halls. Ms. Wockley says this isn’t about Pia, and since the boys never listen, it’s time to get serious.
Ms. Wockley is a powerful, feared authority figure. But given that kids seem to laugh at her pretty often, she seems less frightening than she might otherwise. Kids see her more as a caricature of an emotionless authority figure rather than a real person. Kenzi tries to appeal to Ms. Wockley by encouraging her to be fair when he brings up Pia. But Ms. Wockley implies that she’s had to tell Simeon not to carry Kenzi on his back multiple times, and she’s tired of their horseplay. The fact that convincing Ms. Wockley not to get the boys in trouble is easier than the handshake, though, offers hope that Simeon and Kenzi won’t be punished too harshly.
Themes
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Simeon begs to explain himself before Ms. Wockley gets him and Kenzi in trouble. Ms. Wockley has heard Simeon’s excuses before, but it’s always entertaining, so she’s happy to listen one more time. She sighs. Simeon says that Kenzi is small, and he’d get hurt if Simeon couldn’t protect him. Ms. Wockley asks how Kenzi gets to his classes (Simeon doesn’t carry him between classes). Simeon says he doesn’t know, but it must be terrifying. Kenzi says it’s horrible—a kid knocked him into his locker the other day. Simeon says Ms. Wockley certainly doesn’t want Kenzi to be invisible, which he’d be without Simeon’s help.
There’s more to Ms. Wockley than the kids give her credit for: she seems to genuinely find Simeon and Kenzi engaging and entertaining, even if they refuse to follow the rules. Put another way, she’s not just an emotionless authority figure. She does like the students, and she doesn’t want to just ruin their lives. Simeon also shows that he’s breaking the rules for a good, noble reason. He feels he has to protect his friend when he can, and Kenzi makes it clear that he needs Simeon’s help to not get hurt.
Themes
Ms. Wockley’s face starts to relax. She cuts Simeon off before he can make his next point and tells him to go home and be ready to follow the rules tomorrow. As she walks away, she calls that she hopes Simeon and Kenzi don’t become a horse and jockey when they grow up, since people lose money betting on races. Kenzi’s throat stings, but he says he wants to be a lawyer. Lawyers are smart, he notes, and they know that cowboys, not jockeys, say “yee-haw.”
Ms. Wockley might find Simeon and Kenzi entertaining, but she implies here that this is all she thinks the boys will ever be. This is extremely hurtful to Kenzi, given how his throat tightens up. It’s offensive to him that Ms. Wockley doesn’t take his dream of becoming a lawyer seriously. His friendship with Simeon, though helpful when it comes to getting through the hallways, isn’t helping adults like Ms. Wockley take Kenzi seriously.
Themes
The third thing easier than the handshake is getting to the neighborhood. Simeon and Kenzi exit the school, and Simeon compliments Kenzi for his zinger about cowboys. He also notes that he’s a friend, not a horse. The boys approach Ms. Post, the crossing guard, and she hugs Simeon like she does every day. Ms. Post asks if Simeon is staying out of trouble, and Simeon says he’s going home to do his homework. He tells Ms. Post that her son, Canton, has homework too. Canton ignores Simeon; he’s used to Simeon’s antics.
Simeon and Kenzi are doing their best to ignore others’ assumptions about them—their friendship is all that matters to them. Ms. Post asks Simeon if he’s staying out of trouble like it’s a neutral question. But the assumption is that she almost expects Simeon to be in trouble—again, adults are underestimating these two boys for no apparent reason. Simeon, for his part, tries to make it clear that he’s engaged in school by talking about his homework, though he keeps up the jokester persona by teasing Canton.
Themes
Ms. Post then asks Kenzi if he’s staying out of the street. Kenzi says he’s trying and holds his blue ball up. Then, Simeon asks if Ms. Post is staying out of the street. She says she’s doing her best as she puts her whistle in her mouth and steps into the street. Kenzi and Simeon wave goodbye to Ms. Post and turn right, where not many kids go. This leads to Portal Ave, rather than Portal Avenue, and it leads to Chestnut Homes. Since Simeon and Kenzi are the only kids who walk this way, their path is clear. They can be Simeon the Grand and Kenzi the Great, and they can enter their kingdom. In their kingdom, it’s encouraged to carry someone on your back. The kingdom is full of princes like Kenzi and Simeon—“princes no one ever bet on anyway.”
It’s impossible to tell if Ms. Post is asking Kenzi if he’s literally staying out of the street, or if this is a different way to ask if, like Simeon, Kenzi is staying out of trouble. Either way, the implication is, again, that Ms. Post expects the boys to misbehave. The fact that Simeon and Kenzi live in Chestnut Homes, a “kingdom” where nobody ever bets on the “princes,” helps explain why. Describing Chestnut Homes this way suggests that this is a low-income area, where kids who are considered at-risk live. It implies that the kids here aren’t ones that adults expect to succeed, and so adults don’t support them.
Themes
Simeon picks up their conversation before they spoke to Ms. Post. He reiterates that Kenzi is his family. Kenzi agrees. To the boys, Chestnut Street is paradise. The lamp posts are palm trees, the bus stops are like hammocks, and every corner store is a bungalow. The air smells like “exhaust and exhaustion,” “cooked food and cooked hair.” Life is “thick” here, and there’s a symphony in the air saying, “so good” and “so what.” Kenzi and Simeon’s young voices are like flutes cutting through the music. Most people tighten up when they walk down Chestnut Street, but this is where Kenzi and Simeon can be themselves. They can balance on fire hydrants and say hi to every business owner—they know them all, and the owners always ask after Kenzi and Simeon’s parents. Fredo’s, though, is the best place.
Simeon and Kenzi see their neighborhood very differently than their teachers do. While school is a place where they have to behave and follow silly rules, in their own neighborhood, they can be themselves, play, and experiment. The sounds of the “symphony” suggest again that life is difficult in this neighborhood, but that the people who live here also love it. Describing the boys’ voices as flutes that cut through characterizes the boys as perhaps unusually young, innocent, and hopeful in a neighborhood where there maybe isn’t as much hope.
Themes
The fourth thing easier than the handshake is choosing a snack from Fredo’s Corner Store. Walking into Fredo’s is always like walking into a dungeon. It’s a dark store with no windows. It’s filled with snacks and nothing else, and it smells like incense smoke. Kenzi and Simeon walk in as though they own the place, and Fredo calls the boys “Wreck-It-Ralph and Tiny Tim.” He’s looking through the newspaper and says he hopes every day that he won’t see the boys’ faces. Kenzi says they won’t end up in the paper unless it’s for a good reason, like Kenzi becoming a famous lawyer or Simeon becoming an actor and playing a lawyer on TV. Simeon studies the snack cakes and checks the expiration dates—Fredo keeps merchandise way too long.
Fredo’s might be “the best place,” but its description suggests this is mostly because it’s a funky spot that Simeon and Kenzi love. Fredo, though, shows that like Ms. Post and Ms. Wockley, he expects Simeon and Kenzi to get in big trouble every day—he might be joking, but saying he hopes not to see the boys’ faces in the paper still shows that he assumes the worst of these two. This continues to hurt Kenzi’s feelings and makes it seem like there are few, if any, adults to help him achieve his dream of becoming a lawyer.
Themes
Fredo quips that it’s more likely that a school bus will fall from the sky. Simeon acts hurt, and Fredo says he hopes Simeon and Kenzi are successful. That way, he can sell them the store and retire so he can watch Law and Order all day. Simeon says they’d have to change the store’s name as the boys approach the counter with their snacks. Kenzi has chips and Simeon has a MoonPie. Simeon offers to buy Kenzi’s chips and pulls out a handful of change, which he painstakingly begins to count. Kenzi giggles. Bit is known for stealing change, but he’d never try to steal from Simeon.
Fredo continues to make it clear that he doesn’t think Simeon and Kenzi are going to do anything good with their lives. He makes it seem like he’s never going to be able to retire, and he’s never going to be able to sell the boys the store. For now, though, Simeon and Kenzi let the issue rest and focus on purchasing their snacks. It’s gratifying for Kenzi to think about how powerful Simeon is at school. Bit might be frightening, but Simeon’s size makes him an impossible target.
Themes
As Simeon counts, Fredo asks how his brother is. Simeon says his brother is no doubt driving the ice cream truck, pretending to be a real ice cream man. Fredo asks after Kenzi’s brother and, pointing out Kenzi’s blue handball, he says Kenzi’s brother wasn’t even good at handball. At this, Simeon snaps that he lost count of his change and needs to start again. Exasperated, Fredo scoops the correct change off the counter. When Simeon teases Fredo for having somewhere to be, Fredo says he’s going to go ask Fredo’s mom how many times she dropped him as a baby. Fredo jokes his mom only dropped him into a vat of gold, but Fredo says she also dropped him in a vat of gravy. Simeon doesn’t laugh, so Kenzi steps forward.
Fredo is somewhat rude to Simeon and Kenzi, but as the narrator noted earlier, he’s a shop owner who will always ask about the boys’ families. Simeon’s note that his brother is an ice cream man suggests that Bit may be purchasing ice cream from him right now—Bit and Simeon might be more connected than they think. But Fredo is again insulting to the boys; the story implies that Kenzi is carrying around his brother’s handball to feel close to him, something that Fredo insists is silly. And Fredo then insults Simeon’s intelligence and weight. Simeon’s response shows that this is a step too far. Kenzi, though, demonstrates his loyalty by stepping up.
Themes
To punish Fredo for his rude comment, Kenzi snatches Fredo’s paper. This gets no response, so Kenzi grabs Fredo’s lighter and tells him to stop smoking. Simeon tells Fredo to stop burning the nasty incense too as he and Kenzi leave the store laughing. The things Kenzi took are silly—especially since Fredo owns a store that sells newspapers and lighters. But Kenzi did it because he’s loyal to Simeon. They’re brothers.
All Kenzi seems to want is to feel a little bit powerful. He wants Fredo to feel bad for insulting Simeon, and as a kid who doesn’t really want to get in trouble, stealing these small things while Fredo watches seems like the only way to do this. It allows him to show Simeon he cares and is willing to stand up for him, just like Simeon stands up for Kenzi.
Themes
The fifth thing easier than Kenzi and Simeon’s handshake is making wishes. Kenzi and Simeon joke about Fredo the whole way to their building, where they’ve lived their whole lives. They make fun of him for selling snacks and for having a name like Fredo. When they reach their building’s steps, Simeon watches a metallic balloon blow in the wind. They sit and Kenzi offers Simeon some chips. Simeon refuses and asks for the lighter. Kenzi hands it over, but he’s concerned—jokes are fine, but he can’t be a lawyer if Simeon is going to burn something down.
Joking about Fredo is a way for Kenzi and Simeon to blow off steam after Fredo was rude and dismissive. It doesn’t do anything bad, but it does make the boys feel closer to each other and able to protect each other. This passage then highlights that Kenzi is serious about being a lawyer, and he knows he can’t get in serious trouble if he expects to achieve his dream. Again, it seems like the adults in the boys’ lives don’t take Kenzi’s ambitions seriously, which means Kenzi isn’t getting the support he needs from adults. Simeon is all he has.
Themes
Simeon studies the paper (the front-page story is about a school bus falling from the sky), and then he rips a smaller piece from the front page and rolls it into a paper worm. Then, he pulls the MoonPie out of its wrapper, sticks the worm in it like a candle, and dramatically sings “Happy Birthday” to Kenzi. He lights the candle as Kenzi says it’s not his birthday. Kenzi blows out the candle anyway with Simeon’s prodding, and he also makes a wish when Simeon tells him to. Simeon asks what the wish was—but Kenzi refuses to say, since that’ll make the wish not come true.
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Kenzi when it’s not Kenzi’s birthday may seem silly at first. But it’s a way for Simeon to show his friend how much he cares—it brings a smile to Kenzi’s face, after all. The fact that Simeon is only using the lighter to light a makeshift candle shows that even Kenzi makes assumptions about people (since he was afraid initially that Simeon was going to do something nefarious with it). Burning the story about a falling school bus recalls earlier mentions of a falling school bus and encourages readers to wonder again what this means, though again, this is a mystery that the collection leaves for later.
Themes
Simeon announces that that’s true. He’s heading up to work on Mr. Davanzo’s homework about “environmental something.” As he splits the MoonPie in half and offers half to Kenzi, he notes that he’ll be able to see more of his apartment window. Kenzi eats his half of the MoonPie and puts his ball in his bag. It’s time for the handshake, and he needs both hands. The boys grab hands, shake, point to themselves, fist bump, rub their ears, mime rubbing a ball, and end with a big hug. They say they’re brothers.
Simeon shows Kenzi again how much he loves and supports him by offering him half of the MoonPie. And he shows that he truly is taking his education seriously when he says it’s time to go work on Mr. Davanzo’s homework—he’s not getting into trouble, and the adults were wrong to worry so much about him. The complex handshake allows both boys to affirm their friendship and show each other that they’re willing to engage in this ritual.
Themes
Kenzi and Simeon’s handshake is the same one they watched their older brothers do every day. They ride the elevator up, and Simeon knows what Kenzi wished for. Kenzi wished the paper candle’s smoke could carry a message miles away, through stone and bars and into his brother’s ear. Kenzi wishes he could tell his brother, Mason, that he wishes he didn’t have to walk home from school. He wishes Mason could pick him up in a car like the one Simeon’s brother Chucky stole two years ago. Mason went to prison to save Chucky. But in Kenzi’s wish, Mason is driving a different car. He can take Kenzi for a ride and show Kenzi how to play.
Finally, the story reveals that the handshake is so important to Kenzi and Simeon in part because it connects them to their older brothers. It also reveals why adults might assume that Kenzi is going to just get in trouble: his brother is in prison, and people expect Kenzi to emulate his brother. It’s unclear if adults realize that Mason wasn’t the one to commit the crime, which further highlights how adults’ assumptions are both incorrect and harmful. All Kenzi wants is to be a lawyer and to be physically close to his brother again. But though he can’t have either of those things now, he does have a friend in Simeon, who understands completely how Kenzi feels. This understanding enables him to support Kenzi better than anyone else can.
Themes
