61 pages • 2 hours read
Susan NussbaumGood Kings Bad Kings
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 34-38Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 34 Summary: “Ricky Hernandez”
Ricky forgets his notebook with $46 inside, so he has to go back to ILLC to pick it up. When he gets there, Louie and Candy are taking a break and talking badly about the patients. Louie says that he can’t stand “Hernandez” (Ricky) because he is a “liability” and treats the patients like his friends. The pair is unaware of Ricky’s presence as they talk badly about him. Ricky surprises them by walking in, hoping that Louie will confront him directly, but he doesn’t, so Ricky picks up his notebook and walks out smiling. Ricky knows houseparents like Louie and Candy shouldn’t be working with kids, especially since Louie was a former prison guard.
Chapter 35 Summary: “Yessenia Lopez”
Yessie’s new roommate, Ree Ree, rubs Yessie the wrong way. Yessenia doesn’t like that Ree Ree acts young, asks too many questions, and has a problem with her eye. As they are sitting together at lunch—with Jimmie there to help Ree Ree eat—a confrontation breaks out between Louie and Pierre. Louie is trying to kick Pierre out of the lunchroom, but the teacher on duty intervenes because Pierre isn’t doing anything wrong. Louie knocks the food tray away and tells Pierre to pick up the mess, and Louie tells the teacher to get off his “dick.” As Louie is walking away, Pierre grabs a pencil and runs over to stab him in the chest. Yessenia and the others are excited until Louie slams Pierre violently. Since Louie is large, he severely injures Pierre. Louie is about to hit him again when Jimmie intervenes and pins Louie against the wall. The lunchroom cheers for Jimmie as she holds Louie and whispers something in his ear.
The ambulance eventually comes and takes both Jimmie and Louie away. Yessie wonders what the consequences will be for Louie and how many of the patients—including herself—received severe penalties for less serious infractions. Afterwards, once the police have left, Yessie asks Jimmie what she told Louie. Jimmie says “Really. I just told him not to mess with any of you kids anymore. Or something like that” (187).
Chapter 36 Summary: “Michelle Volkmann”
Michelle’s unhappiness continues to slowly grow, as she would “rather die” than spend another overnight visit at a mental health facility. She also needs to ask for a raise to help pay for a friend’s wedding, but she comments on how Whitney-Palm probably won’t do it, despite Tim being able to buy a new house and car in Florida.
Michelle has to visit another mental health facility in an industrial area of Chicago. It is bland and depressing, and Michelle is unhappy to be there. She goes through security and doesn’t enjoy interacting with the security guards, two “African Americans” who “look exactly [like each other]” (191). She feels uncomfortable after hearing that “Cheri Smith” might be there—the girl who yelled at her while she was visiting ILLC. Michelle doesn’t want to leave the common area, so she conducts her building review without actually seeing the facilities, checking boxes on her checklist by guessing the conditions. There are only two nurses and seven guards, so Michelle notes this. She finally decides to tour the facility and passes by Cheri’s room. Cheri looks different, doesn’t say anything, and is being spoon fed by a guard. Michelle feels frightened and uncomfortable, so she leaves the facility as quickly as she can.
Chapter 37 Summary: “Teddy Dobbs”
Unable to sleep, Teddy hears Yessenia on the phone outside his room and calls her over. It’s late, so they could get in trouble, but they make up a story in case they get caught. Yessie and Teddy talk about the incident with Pierre, and Teddy heard Mrs. Phoebe tell Joanne to transfer Pierre’s file to Riverwood. They joke for a bit, but the new houseparent, George—who replaced Jerry—comes by and tells Yessenia to return to the girl’s quarters.
Chapter 38 Summary: “Ricky Hernandez”
Pierre’s jaw is wired shut from his altercation with Louie, and Ricky is saddened for him. After his shift, Ricky stops by the Children's Hospital to visit Pierre. He brings a smoothie, since he knows how poor the food at the facilities are. Pierre looks like he is in bad condition, and when he tastes the smoothie, Ricky notices how happy and surprised he looks to have a visitor. Ricky is unsure about getting too involved with Pierre, but he feels good about offering whatever little help he can. The night before, Ricky recalls how him and “Jo” (Joanne) were in bed, and she broke the news to him about Pierre. Ricky felt like he wanted to cry, but he takes Joanne’s advice to “compartmentalize” his feelings. He makes love to Joanne, which she laughs about. Back in the hospital, Ricky stays until Pierre finishes his smoothie, then Ricky tells him—like the “idiot [he is]”—that he will be back tomorrow (204).
Chapters 34-38 Analysis
Ricky’s sense of masculinity shows when he confronts Louie. Though Ricky is generally a sincere and compassionate man, his decision to not back down from Louie shows that he is unafraid to defend what he believes in—and he believes in the goodness of the youth he works with. It further develops his character as a protector and as a large male who won’t back down from potential physical confrontation if he is defending those he cares about. His analysis of Louie—his colleague—shows that Ricky isn’t power hungry, but he actually cares about the patients: “You gotta really do some deep self-deluded backflips in your brain to see yourself as the victim when you’re the pig with the truncheon beating some guy’s head in” (180).
Louie takes the place of Jerry as the antagonist, so when the climax of his fight with Pierre in the lunchroom happens, it is somewhat expected. Louie is an aggressive, hateful, intolerant “skinhead” looking male, who is easily angered and feels “disrespected” by the patients (185). His characterization as a potential racist and ageist (as well as a former prison guard) are foreshadow his abusive attack on Pierre.
When Jimmie intervenes, she represents the good guys: those adults who actually care about the children. Jimmie also has her reasons for protecting the children; since she is a gay black woman—often mistreated and neglected by mainstream society. She relates with the abuse of the patients and is motivated to provide a safe environment for them. She is noble and empathetic because her experiences have shaped her to be more aware of social injustices she has had to overcome herself. Her victory over Louie, therefore, represents a larger, symbolic win over the institutionalized racism, discrimination, and hatred that many of these characters experience.
Michelle’s narrative allows readers to see other experiences outside of ILLC. In this chapter, Michelle visits Riverwood Juvenile Mental Facility. Her visit sheds light on more of the systemic disparities and insufficiencies. While Tim gets to enjoy a new house and car in Florida, Michelle has to drive her beat-up car and see the deplorable conditions of the young women who have to live in horrible conditions. The discrepancy between the lifestyle of the company’s top executive versus the common person is sobering for Michelle. This commentary is undoubtedly the author’s way of getting readers to think about the large economic and social gap between the haves and the have nots. This is further amplified by Michelle’s visit inside Riverwood, where there aren’t enough nurses in the building, the lights don’t work, there is a prison-like ambiance, and many of the girls don’t interact or socialize, most likely due to depression.
ILLC functions as a corporate pipeline for patients to transfer to other Whitney-Palm facilities. Teddy reveals that Pierre is going to Riverwood after his incident with Louie. He and Yessenia point out how many ILLC patients go to Riverwood, evidence that Whitney-Palms is merely “filling the beds” with bodies to increase profits. Fortunately, Teddy’s growing involvement with his lawyer gives him hope that he will be able to live independently once he leaves ILLC. Joanne’s influence on both him and Yessenia is apparent when they both begin to talk and joke about how cool protesting is. This moment serves as a rare glimmer of positivity for the patients, whose world is largely confined and dictated by corporate needs.
One of the adults who seems to continue caring for the patients is Ricky. His visit to the Children’s Hospital proves how committed he is to provide safety and care for the patients, even when they are not even under his supervision. Like Joanne and Jimmie—who are both marginalized members of society—Ricky’s past growing up in a poor, immigrant family has shaped his sense of empathy for less fortunate people. The tenderness he shows Pierre can be seen in how genuine he is during his visit with the smoothie: “[He] looks at me as he drinks it, like he never had nothing so good. […] I wish he had somebody to be his parent and really take care of him. But that’s not the reality” (202) Sadly, Ricky knows that his efforts are not sustainable. The health care system is unequipped to properly care for individuals like Pierre, and Ricky can only do so much to help the child feel loved.
