Son of a Trickster Summary

Jared Martin doesn’t get along with his maternal grandmother, Anita, who dislikes him because she thinks he is the son of the raven Trickster Wee’git. When Jared is five years old, he and his mom and dad move to Kitimat, British Columbia. During his childhood, his paternal grandmother, Nana Sophia, tells him that she did a DNA test on him, which determined that he’s part ‘Namgis and part Heiltsuk. She also assures Jared that he isn’t Wee’git’s son. But Anita tells him that a scientific test wouldn’t be able to determine this, and she warns him to be careful if Wee’git ever visits.

Years later, when Jared is a teenager, he has to euthanize pit bull, Baby Killer. Jared got Baby Killer a few years earlier when a biker gang threatened his mom, forcing her to pay an ex-boyfriend’s debts to them. One man in the gang, Richie, tried to sic his two pit bulls on Jared, but Jared’s mom ran over one of the dogs. After this, his mother began dating Richie for protection, and Richie’s other pit bull, Baby Killer, became immediately attached to Jared. After Jared and his mom put Baby Killer down, Jared cries and drinks beer.

Some days after school, Jared helps his elderly neighbors Mr. Jaks (who has memory problems) and Mrs. Jaks (who has leukemia) around their home. He also plays video games and gets high with his friends, Blake and Kelsey. One day, when Jared is on his way home, a raven starts talking to him, and he thinks that the marijuana is causing him to hallucinate. Later, on a bus, a Native man tells Jared that he is Wee’git and that he is Jared’s real father, but Jared thinks the man is crazy. Around the same time, Jared starts to hear an unfamiliar voice in his head, but he thinks that he’s simply going insane.

Jared bakes and sells cookies with marijuana in them to help his dad pay rent, as his dad is having trouble getting a disability check from his insurance. Jared’s dad has an old back injury that still flares up, he’s become addicted to pain medication. His dad also has a stepdaughter named Destiny, who is pregnant at 17. Jared knows that his mom would be furious if she found out he was helping his dad, but he doesn’t want his dad and stepsister to be homeless.

Just before Jared’s Christmas break, Nana Sophia messages him on Facebook and gives him some money, imploring him not to give it to his parents. Over the holidays, Jared blacks out from drinking too much at parties, and one morning, he wakes up in an unfamiliar house. A nerdy boy named George took him in for the evening, and they quickly become friends. Soon after this, Jared discovers that his dad has actually been getting his disability checks and has been lying so that Jared will give him money. He’s upset, but he gives his dad the money anyway.

One day, when Jared goes to check on the Jakses, he and meets their granddaughter Sarah, who is now staying with them. Sarah is pretty, sarcastic, and very interested in Indigenous culture; Jared immediately takes a liking to her. He wakes the next day in bed with Sarah, unsure of how they got together. After this, they quickly grow closer.

A few weeks into dating Sarah, Jared’s mother finds out that he’s helping his dad, and she completely destroys his room. For a few weeks, Jared stays at different friends’ houses and gets drunk for days at a time. One day, he wakes up in a motel and has to hitchhike home. An old Native woman stops to help him, but he sees something like a monster writhing beneath her skin and runs away from her, afraid. Jared eventually returns home, but his mom is gone.

In May, with a little over a month left in school, Jared’s mom is still missing. He desperately scrounges money to pay the utility bills and feed himself. Finally, Jared messages Nana Sophia, who offers to let him stay with her for the summer. Jared knows that his mom will disown him over this betrayal, but he doesn’t care anymore.

Soon after, the electricity is shut off at Jared’s house. Meanwhile, he and Sarah get high together, and he notices that she cuts herself. Sarah tries to get Jared to spank her or let her tie him up when they have sex, but he refuses. He tells her about his mom’s abusive ex-boyfriend, David, who broke Jared’s ribs and got an erection while doing so. When his mom found them, she used a nail gun to nail David’s feet to the floor. Due to this incident, Jared doesn’t want to hurt Sarah or be hurt. Sarah then takes psychedelic mushrooms and cuts herself in front of Jared, and Jared doesn’t know how to react.

After five weeks, Jared’s mom returns home, shaking from the drugs she’s on. She tells Jared that it was all she could do not to strangle him for helping his dad. They reconcile, but the next day, Jared finds his mom high on drugs, plucking out her eyebrows. When he tries to stop her, she stabs him with her tweezers.

Soon after this, Sarah comes over to Jared’s with more psychedelic mushrooms, but he refuses to take them. Sarah starts tripping and seeing fireflies above her. Then, one of the cuts on her palm opens up, and she places her hand on Jared’s forehead. This transports her and Jared to a prehistoric wasteland, where he sees ape-like men crawling toward them. Jared thinks that he must be dreaming and forces himself to wake up. After this incident, he starts seeing the ape men everywhere, though he again tries to convince himself that he must have taken mushrooms. Later that evening, Jared hears Baby Killer’s bark at the door, but he knows that it can’t really be her.

A few days later, Jared goes back to the Jakses’, noticing that they’ve put up a “FOR SALE” sign. Jared and Sarah sob in the kitchen about Sarah leaving and about Mrs. Jaks’s worsening cancer. Jared can still see the magical fireflies, which swarm above Sarah constantly. That evening, Jared and Sarah curl up on the couch together, and Jared tells Sarah that he loves her. When she doesn’t return the sentiment, he leaves.

On the way home, Jared sees a vision of Baby Killer, as well one of a “Fake Sarah,” both of whom try to lure him into the woods. Fake Sarah tells Jared that human beings are killing the world and so they have to die, and she transforms into a river otter. A pack of otters appears behind her, and Jared runs back to his basement. When he texts Nana Sophia asking what she knows about river otters, she replies that she’s booking a plane immediately.

The next day, when Jared tells his mother about the otters, she reveals to Jared that she, Mrs. Jaks, and Sarah are witches, and Nana Sophia is Halayt. She says that they have to protect themselves from the river otters, so she initiates some hexes. Meanwhile, Jared gets a panicked phone call from Sarah that Mrs. Jaks collapsed on the floor and isn’t breathing—but when Jared starts to run over to her house, someone knocks him out.

Jared wakes up in a cave surrounded by the river otters, who bite off one of his toes and burn the wound with a lighter. They lament that Jared doesn’t taste powerful and decide to use him as bait to catch his mom. Just as they’re about to eat more of his fingers and toes, Wee’git arrives in the form of a raven and stops time. He says that Jared is his son and implores him to transform into something that can fly away. Jared is upset that Wee’git has been watching him for so long and never interfered to help him before, like when David broke his ribs. He refuses to go with Wee’git, and the river otters attack Wee’git while Jared makes his escape.

After Jared gets stitched up and returns home, he tells Nana Sophia—who has just arrived—that he isn’t really her grandson. Nana Sophia is furious, and Jared can see a pterodactyl snapping its beak under her skin. She coldly writes him a check for the money Jared’s dad owes him and leaves, and Jared sobs over losing the one person who always loved him. He then takes the money and gives it to his dad, explaining that he doesn’t need it. For the next few days, Jared rests at home. When he asks his mother about Wee’git, she tells him that she shot Wee’git in the head and sank him in the ocean because he messed with her and Anita—but he still came back.

That same day, Jared returns to the Jakses’, whose house has now been packed up. As he and Sarah have sex one last time, Sarah can see the fireflies, and Jared sees that their skin is starting to shred into thin air. Terrified, he gets up and leaves the house, afraid that he might disintegrate entirely. The next day, Jared learns that Sarah took magic mushrooms and cut herself, causing her to be hospitalized for her injuries. When Jared tries to visit her at the house when she returns, Sarah’s mom is there, and she blames him for what happened. Soon after, Jared meets up with Sarah. She tells him that the sex they had made her feel alive for the first time and that she loves him, but Jared doesn’t think he can be with her anymore. The next morning, Sarah’s mother drives her off to rehab.

A few days later, when Jared is drunk after a party, Jwa’sins (the Native woman with the monster under her skin) arrives on Jared’s street. She tells him that she is Wee’git’s sister, and she brings Jared to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. At first, Jared is skeptical and a little embarrassed at being there while drunk, but ultimately, he’s moved by the meeting and strives to stay sober. He gets a job at Dairy Queen, does his homework, and hangs out with George more often. The one person who is not pleased with Jared’s sobriety is his mom, who thinks that Jared is judging her for her lifestyle. But Jared ignores his mom’s wrath—he feels empowered by his sobriety.

Jared then decides to reconcile with Anita, and he tells her about meeting Wee’git and Jwa’sins. Anita replies that she loves Jared, and she warns him to be careful when interacting with these beings.