Tex

Tex and Mason are interviewed for the local television news about the hitchhiker and the kidnapping. They decide to indulge in one of the joints that Lem gave them to celebrate and relax when the phone rings. It’s Pop, who saw them on the news. He has called to see if they were okay. Pop says he is coming home.

When Pop arrives, the boys greet him with enthusiasm. However, Mason is resentful of the fact that he has had to care for Tex and worry about money while Pop has been away. For his part, Tex begins to view his father like an individual person rather than as a parent, “[a]lmost like he was a visitor” (132). Pop promises to retrieve Negrito for Tex. That night, Tex has another nightmare during which he sleepwalks.

The day Pop is supposed to find and buy back Negrito, he forgets and attends a poker tournament instead. Mason is angry, and Tex is hurt. Pop promises that he has the money, but the boys will have to track down the horse themselves and negotiate the cost. When Tex sees Negrito, the horse is practicing barrel racing with a young girl. It becomes immediately clear that the girl has become attached to the horse, and the horse has been well cared for.