The Fourth Stall

“I mean, sure, I’ve had my share of deadbeat customers who never came through on their end of the bargain, whether it be repaying a favor or making dull payment. But I’d never rectify it by sending out some hoodlum to rough them up. That just wasn’t good business.”

Mac explains that he and Staples have drastically different approaches to dealing with customers who cannot pay up. The lines directly establish Mac and Staples as dramatic foils, or characters so opposite in actions and decision-making that they highlight each other’s traits. The lines also indirectly characterize Mac as an astute sixth grader capable of self-analysis and detailed observations.

“But that’s only supposed to be for real emergencies, like if I need an ice cream really bad and I don’t have any spare change.”

After Mac suggests using their Emergency Fund to employ more protection for Fred, Vince speaks up. Indirectly, this line shows Vince’s quirky sense of humor and ability to disagree while redirecting with humor. He follows up by suggesting Fred “hang out” in the bathroom for a few days at lunch and recess to limit spending. Mac appreciates Vince’s sense of humor and agrees with his suggestion, never suspecting that Fred will bring more trouble to his business.

“I hear that you’re harboring a fugitive?”

The Collector accosts Mac and accuses him of helping Fred. This quickly disabuses Mac of the notion that no one knows about his involvement in undermining Staples’s potential plan to hurt Fred for quitting on him. In terms of the early rising action, this moment raises the stakes and forces Mac to adjust his goals and plans, realizing that Staples knows about him. Additionally, the line exemplifies the “flavor” of language and dialogue throughout the story that reminds one of traditional gangster and organized crimes movies.

“The whole school was at risk. Staples was dangerous, and he wasn’t going to just shut down his operation on his own.”

Mac lays out the more significant, more general conflict at the end of the first section of chapters. Whereas he initially wanted to help Fred out of curiosity, then wanted to keep his involvement hushed for the sake of continued business prospects, Mac now sees that Staples’s influence endangers not only the empire Mac created but those at school less capable of protecting themselves. Mac must face the bigger problem, and he is partially compelled by a sense of justice, a mark of coming-of-age.

“Hey, want to know who solved all our problems? Well, I’ll tell you: it was Christian. My best friend and super genius.”

Vince’s habit of crediting Mac as the head of the operation goes back to kindergarten when the two successfully reclaimed the Bella Vista trailer park playground from two bullying brothers, Mike and Kristoff. Mac believes that Vince does not enjoy the spotlight and that he consistently and generously allows the “glory” to go to Mac. Vince spoke these words when he was young but seems to feel the same way now in sixth grade; the line introduces subtext, however, that suggests Vince might have complex and more sincere feelings on the issue.

“But the future of our whole operation was on the line. Why didn’t he see that?”

Mac states he will pay the bullies he accumulated $20 each per revenge task in the overall plan to rid the school of Staples’s influence. Vince is noticeably upset at the thought of such a foolhardy expenditure, but Mac sees no choice. The moment and Mac’s tone in this line introduce the conflict brewing between Vince and Mac. This subplot starts over Mac’s money decisions, but this moment foreshadows the bad feelings developing between the two.

“If we cut off the supply of gamblers, then the money would stop coming in. If the money stopped flowing, then Staples’s business at my school would collapse. Easy as pie.”

Mac lays out his plan and goals once the Collector is successfully taken out of the picture by Mac’s hired mercenary bullies. Near the end of a chapter, this line of interior monologue demonstrates Mac’s continuing optimism and confidence that not only is he doing the right thing, but the plan will also go off without any hitches. The line’s purpose is to clarify and summarize to middle-grade readers what Mac is doing and why; it also sets up the foundation for a strong juxtaposition when Mac discovers a dead mouse in his locker in the following chapter’s opening lines and realizes the plan may not be easy as he thought.

“With that, the three of us came up with a way to verify just who the snitch might be. It wasn’t something I wanted to do. In fact, what we’d be doing tomorrow would get us expelled immediately if we were caught.”

This example of a chapter cap that serves as a hook for the next part of the story is representative of many chapter endings in The Fourth Stall. Cliffhangers such as this one increase the suspense and show how, with every new plan Mac makes, he accepts the raised stakes that come as a consequence. This particular cap also demonstrates that at this time, Mac, Vince, and Joe are working as a team.

“I still don’t know why they even put a bathroom back there in the first place, but I stopped asking the administration those types of questions a long time ago. It’s like asking a gerbil to explain quantum physics.”

In a backstory revelation, Mac tells how he came to have his office in the fourth stall of the East Wing bathroom due to a new customer—the school janitor. After Mac stopped the Graffiti Ninja, the janitor was so grateful that he offered Mac the use of the bathroom with an inherent promise of secrecy. The janitor also provides Mac with valuable keys, such as the master key to all the lockers. The line indirectly suggests that the janitor feels no loyalty to the school administrators, which might explain why he is so quick to side with and reward a student like Mac.

“No adult was going to let a kid keep six grand in his closet.”

This line in Mac’s interior monologue reveals just one of several reasons he does not inform his parents about his conflict with Staples and the resultant threats—even when one of the threats is a red car that might run him down. The line is a good example of Mac’s succinct, snappy voice and his blunt, no-nonsense manner; it also includes the use of slang with the word grand for the money amount of a thousand dollars. This usage flavors the line in a way that is representative of many Mac lines: He sounds like a middle-grade gangster.

“I mean for him to answer a Cubs question right and not do any gloating afterward is like a girl in my class leaving a shopping mall empty-handed.”

Mac regards Vince’s increasingly distracted behavior at the lake house with suspicion. Mac frequently uses humorous similes to get his point across, even in unfunny situations. Here, he also reminds readers that girls are not really on his radar, as he speaks of them in stereotypical terms and with a lack of seriousness. His word choice is a reminder that despite his impressive business, his dramatic conflicts, and his earned savings, Mac is just a sixth-grade student.

“You have no clue who this Mac character is?”

Ironically, Mac’s father asks this information of him just as he prepares to clean the house and garage door after the vandals’ attack. Mac is firmly entrenched in his identity at school; no students call him by his given name, Christian. The line is also ironic in that Mac intended thus far to keep his parents in the dark about his activities for their own good, but now, his secrets lead to a tough cleaning job and significant time investment for his father.

“Your Tom Petty key, please.”

This line signifies a major development in both the plot and Mac’s character arc. He discovers that Vince is stealing from their petty cash fund, and he asks Vince to turn in his key to the lockbox. The moment symbolizes an unheard-of rift in their friendship and what is, for Mac, a hurtful discovery and complication in the rising action. Vince does not deny the crime and hands over the key without a word, indirectly characterizing him as both strong and secretive.

“I had been double-crossed.”

The day worsens, and the stakes are raised when Mac realizes that someone tipped off Justin about his plan to keep the bullies and Joe in the shed until needed. Mac’s usual confidence and optimism disappear as he sees that his snitch problem is not gone and that he is in for a beating. After discovering earlier that Vince had stolen money from their fund, Mac tries to stop thinking about Vince as he prepares for the meeting with Justin; after the meeting, he ironically thinks many times of Vince—wondering if his best friend could be the snitch.

“That sounds like some pretty extensive monitoring. Possibly dangerous, too. It might cost you.”

Serving to increase the stakes and the complexity of the given circumstances, the moment that Mac goes alone to Tyrell Alishouse is a notable complication in the rising action. Here, Tyrell agrees to shadow Mac’s employees Joe, Great White, Nubby, and Kitten, and his best friend and business partner Vince. Mac is motivated by his complicated emotions regarding Vince’s theft of their petty cash fund and increasing desperation over the potential loss of his business to Staples’s tactics.

“Was I really this big of a sucker?”

Mac’s first-person point of view reveals his thoughts and feelings through an interior monologue in the story. Here, readers see the extent to which he begins doubting himself over Vince’s actions and the subsequent feelings of betrayal. The tone of this chapter cap is very different from the air of confidence and jaunty control Mac displayed in the early chapters; this change demonstrates that Mac is a dynamic character, one coming of age through his conflicts with friends, money, trust, and antagonists.

“I’m sorry I can’t pay you what I owe […]. I’ve got nothing left.”

Mac tells his three remaining bullies and Joe that Vince betrayed him and stole all the saved money from their years in business together. In addition to marking a new experience for Mac—humility and defeat—in the way he has always conducted business, the line is symbolic of Mac’s character arc in the story, as he is at his low point emotionally. “Nothing” implies a double meaning, as well—not only is Mac broke, but he has no friendship left with Vince.

“There are times when making a bargain just makes more sense than fighting to the end. This was one of those times.”

Mac’s interior monologue leads the reader to believe that his decision to tell Staples via Justin that he will accept the offer to work for Staples is sincere. Part of Mac’s coming of age and character arc involves learning humility and acceptance. Mac explains that his decision is partially motivated by his desire to prevent harassment and danger from affecting the bullies, Joe, and Fred.

“Anyways, I’d like for you to case a joint for me. Stake it out all day today and call me as soon as the coast is clear. And bring some of your tools. Hopefully we’ll be doing a little B and E as well, if you know what I mean.”

As the novel begins its last climb of rising action and nears the climactic scene, Mac shows that despite some changes in him toward humility and considerateness, he remains gangster-like in his ideas, actions, and words. In one short speech, he uses lots of crime jargon, including the slang terms “case the joint” and “stake it out” (both of which mean surveilling a location for suspicious activity), a cliché with “the coast is clear,” and an acronym for breaking and entering, a criminal offense.

“My friends will use a bolt cutter to break into your shack. They’ll use sleeping pills to disarm your dog. Oh, and they better find my Emergency and Game Funds, too, because I want those back.”

Mac attempts to take control and gain the upper hand over Staples in a crucial power play, demonstrating indirectly a resurgence against the defeat he experienced in agreeing to work for Staples. By his admission, Mac has only this “Hail Mary” pass left in his arsenal against his opposition; involving his remaining bullies along with Vince and Joe shows that he is willing to take extreme risks to defeat an immoral antagonist. 

“I’m already going to prison, right? So who cares if they add more time for what I’m about to do to you?”

Staples cannot be cowed by the threat of jail time, a factor unforeseen by Mac. Staples is either cruelly manipulating Mac, who is just a sixth grader, or he genuinely feels a recklessness and hopelessness that preclude any sense of caution or sensible decision-making. Either way, Staples shows here that he and Mac are dramatic foils whose goals and attitudes strongly contrast.

“It looked just like I’d heard: a stretch of land that had been leveled for construction years ago and then was just abandoned overnight. Maybe those ghost rumors weren’t just rumors after all.”

This line is representative of the strong imagery with which Mac describes the location of the Yard. His mention of the Yard’s rumors raises the setting to almost legendary proportions; the notions of ghosts and spooky history parallel other places in the narrative in which Mac encounters a person or place with a reputation that precedes them and serves to heighten the mood or conflict.

“It may have been only water from Great White’s squirt gun, but it had surprised Staples just enough for him to loosen his grip on me ever so slightly.”

On one level, the image of a squirt gun blasting Staples is a fitting parody for the climactic showdown of this novel. Additionally, though, readers find irony and aptness in the way that Staples meets his undoing in the Yard. With his strength, menace, and ferocity, it is ironic that a toy squirt gun could cause enough distraction and harm to foil his focus and contribute to his overwhelming defeat. That a toy leads to his failure, though, is a fitting and fulfilling reminder that while Staples contends with mature complications and challenges in his desire to get his sister back, Mac and his friends are middle graders whose solutions, ideas, and battle strategies should be appropriately kid-themed.