48 pages • 1 hour read
Don AkerThe First Stone
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3, Chapters 26-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3, Chapter 26 Summary
Chapter 26 begins with a time jump. Students in a classroom ask Reef questions about himself after he gives them a presentation about his story. He says that Leeza can walk now, and even though this has been hard for him, he is glad that Judge Thomas decided to take a chance on him instead of trying him as an adult and risking his incarceration. He says that until he saw Jink, he didn’t know how badly a body could be broken. Reef also tells the class that fear is worse than anger and that fear motivated most of his problems. Most of his worst decisions arose from fear.
Mr. Brighton, the teacher, says Reef should make a career of speaking. Surprisingly, Reef finished his requirements—as far as class presentation—a semester ago, but he keeps speaking to classes because he thinks he can actually make a difference for anyone who might be on a path similar to his own. He stays after to chat with a girl named Kelly, who wants to know if he saw Leeza again. The teacher stays to listen.
Part 3, Chapter 27 Summary
Brett has married her boyfriend, Sam. Leeza looks at pictures of Brett’s honeymoon and then reads the letter she sent. It ends with the words, “A person can change” (276). Getting her fixators out was excruciating. Afterward, the doctor said that the holes would begin to close and her healing process would change for the better in noticeable ways. Leeza now thinks about how her emotional wounds and worries may never heal.
She remembers her final words with Reef. He had appeared in her room while she cried and gave her a tearful apology; she had known his remorse was genuine. However, she told him to go away. Reef did not beg for her forgiveness, but he said, “The guy who did that isn’t the guy who’s here now. A person can change” (279). Before Leeza could answer, her mother entered and screamed for him to leave. Then she said she couldn’t believe he thought an apology would make up for everything. Brett had told Diane that he just wanted to apologize. He didn’t think he could make up for everything. A week later, Leeza learned that her mother filed a restraining order against Reef. He transferred to another hospital to finish his community service.
Brett tells her that Alex had called her to tell her about how much Reef had changed. He described Reef as someone who had never known his father, who abandoned his mother, who died during childbirth. Reef’s grandfather blamed Reef for his mother’s death. Then Reef’s grandmother died, and a series of foster homes finally led him to the overpass where he threw the stone. Brett insists that the boy on the overpass was not the person who had sat with Leeza during her recovery and made her laugh.
Leeza almost called Reef several times but always stopped herself. At church with Jack and her mother, she looks at the stained-glass windows and listens to the preacher speak. He talks about the Biblical message that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. She thinks again of the four words, telling her that sometimes people can change.
Part 3, Chapter 28 Summary
Frank picks Reef up after the presentation and guesses correctly that someone asked Reef about Leeza again. Reef wants to reach out to her, but if he tries to contact Leeza, it will break the terms of his probation. As they drive, he sees that there is now a high fence of chain link on the overpass, which will prevent anyone else from throwing things onto the road below.
He reveals that Alex has moved back in with his parents, which is difficult but encouraging. Scar is attending Queen’s University. She has a new boyfriend, and Reef is sincerely happy for her. Reef is doing well in school and is the volleyball team’s high scorer. He occasionally hopes Leeza will see one of his volleyball pictures in the paper.
When he wonders about his skill as an athlete, he thinks his accuracy in sports probably comes from a lifetime of throwing rocks. Reef thinks about the black stone in his pocket. He found it on the beach and kept it after almost throwing it into the water. He realizes it’s the first stone he hasn’t wanted to throw since his grandmother died. Now, he takes it to every presentation.
Part 3, Chapters 26-28 Analysis
Aker uses the final three chapters to show the aftermath of Reef and Leeza’s relationship. Although they lose each other—at least for now—the note has an optimistic ending.
Thematically, the most important narrative development is Reef’s rehabilitation. He has fully embraced the consequences of his actions, as he demonstrates during his speech to the group in Chapter 26. The bluster is gone, and Reef seems more peaceful than ever despite the revelation that he might not see Leeza again. Reef not only is willing to serve as a cautionary tale but also feels that it is his duty, indicating that his rehabilitation has led to actual redemption. He is no longer angry, and with his new perspective, it can be argued that perhaps anger was never his main issue: “Most of the things I regret in my life I did because I was afraid. I used to think it was because I was angry. Anger is a hard thing to deal with. But I think fear is harder. It makes you feel more alone” (271).
He doesn’t want anyone else to feel alone, and he doesn’t want anyone to feel afraid if they can avoid it. This is the biggest sign of Reef’s growth—he knows that much of his pain was self-inflicted despite his brutal upbringing. He thinks, “Shit didn’t just happen. He knew that now. Shit got made. And the worst shit is the shit we make for ourselves” (284). By acknowledging this fact, he also allows himself a measure of charity—the worst parts of his early life were caused by his grandfather’s mistreatment, his lack of a mother, and the death of Nan. He no longer believes that those hurdles gave him an excuse to lash out at anyone else.
Sadly, although Reef understands how much he has evolved, it may not be enough for Leeza, and it certainly is not enough for her mother. Reef hopes that Leeza might be able to forgive him, but if not, he accepts that the apology might be the best he can do. He tells Leeza, “The guy who did that isn’t the guy who’s here now. A person can change” (279). He knows that a person can change because he has changed, and if he can soften and love himself more, than he believes anyone can. Even if Leeza and her mother cannot forgive, Reef has progressed enough to offer himself some measure of forgiveness.
Leeza can’t outright accept his apology, but her mother’s intrusion, while understandable, doesn’t give her time to react on her own terms. After Reef leaves, she thinks, “Perhaps there were things you could depend on after all. Death and decay. And disappointment” (278). If someone like Leeza draws such a grim conclusion, it means that justice has still not served her well. She will continue to pay the physical and emotional consequences for the stone, even if Reef manages to heal and thrive.
The justice system exists to dissuade criminals, punish them if necessary, and rehabilitate them when possible. Reef reaped the benefits of the justice system at its best, thanks to the wisdom of Judge Thomas. However, his success means nothing to the people who love Leeza and can’t bear to watch her continued suffering while the boy who changed her life enjoys his rehabilitation.
Of course, the unwritten truth that Aker inserts into these passages is that Reef can’t simply live a joyous life as if he had never met Leeza. However, despite Reef’s heartbreak, Frank knows that Reef is a success story. There is even the suggestion that Reef may be able to tell his story and inspire people in a professional capacity.
After talking with Alex, Brett frames Reef in a kind, compassionate perspective. She doesn’t do this to absolve him but because she saw how happy Reef and Leeza were together. The boy who tearfully apologized to Leeza after falling in love with her was not the boy who threw the stone. Accountability, friendship, and support from responsible adults have redeemed Reed, allowing him to transcend the circumstances that shaped his early life.
The novel concludes with a clever bit of symmetry as Reef takes another stone in his hand: “It was the first stone he’d found since his grandmother had died that he hadn’t flung as far as he could. Hadn’t wanted to. Hadn’t needed to. He held it tight in his hand as he watched the road unfurl toward home” (289). He has returned to a calmer state, and his newfound delight in his life harkens back to his memories in which Nan encouraged his love of rocks, nature, and the differences that make people special and complementary.
