Al Capone Shines My Shoes

The next day, a Friday, Moose’s parents pressure him to visit Natalie at her school. Moose hates visiting the Marinoff School for a number of reasons: The teachers are patronizing, he thinks the children wobble around the room like “wind-up toys,” and—worst of all—he’s afraid the school will not be as “perfect” as he needs it to be, having risked everything to send Natalie there. If his parents knew what he did, he thinks, they would not be trying to make him feel guilty for not visiting. He’s noticed that his mother’s social life has flourished since Natalie left for school; plus, she has more time now for playing piano at the officers’ club and for teaching music. Moose has had more freedom as well: Finally, he can come and go as he pleases, without Natalie to worry about. Reluctantly, he agrees to make the visit.

On Saturday—with only one day left to figure out what to do about the roses—Moose stays in his room all day, immersed in a book about baseball, to get his mind off Al Capone. Mrs. Mattaman visits and gives him a whole plateful of cannoli out of gratitude for having saved Baby Rocky. Hesitantly, she tells him that Theresa has not yet forgiven herself for giving Rocky the coin that made him choke, and she has been hiding in her room for two straight days, refusing to come out. She asks Moose to try to reach her, maybe by asking for her help with something.

Grudgingly, Moose follows Mrs. Mattaman to her apartment, where he finds Theresa hiding under her bedcovers. After trying to draw her out in various ways, Moose has an inspiration: If he can get Theresa to visit Natalie’s school with him on Sunday, maybe she’ll agree to give the yellow roses to Mae Capone, so he won’t have to. Knowing that Theresa likes to play checkers with his sister, he begs her to keep Natalie occupied while he talks to the headmistress. Theresa refuses, claiming that she is too “stupid” to be of any use to anyone. Her baby brother almost died because of her, she says, and—worse—she had earlier wanted him to “go away.” Moose consoles her by saying that he has sometimes felt that way about Natalie, an admission that distresses him so much that his hives begin to burn.

Theresa seems comforted, but then asks him why he “likes” Piper, who says mean things, such as that she is a “jinx.” Moose protests that he doesn’t like Piper—not always—but that on a small island like Alcatraz, everyone has to “get along.” Again he begs Theresa to come, saying that he really needs her help. As he leaves, he senses that she is thinking about it.

The next day, Moose heads for the dock, with every penny he owns in his pocket. Relieved, at first, to see Theresa emerge from her apartment, he is startled to see Annie join her, carrying baseball gear. However, Moose cannot say no to baseball, and so runs to get his gear.

On the way, he wonders how he can possibly buy roses for Mae Capone with Annie hanging around—and how, after visiting Natalie, he’ll still have time to play baseball before catching the 2:00 ferry. If he doesn’t do what Capone wants, he thinks, the gangster could have him killed. He tries thinking up excuses to keep Annie from coming, but when he gets back to the dock, he finds he is too late: His father and Mrs. Mattaman are there, delighted that the three of them are all going to visit Natalie.

Walking to Natalie’s school, Moose makes plans to take Annie to the wrong playing field afterward, so they won’t run into Scout. The Esther P. Marinoff School is a spacious white mansion surrounded by flowerbeds—none of which have roses. An elderly woman named Sadie welcomes them in. The prim tastefulness of the school’s furnishings makes both Moose and Annie puzzle how Capone could have any connection to the place.

Natalie enters the room in her new yellow dress, which sports a couple of new buttons that were rewards for her progress in class. Moose finds out that Natalie and Sadie have been working very hard on her conversation skills and on keeping her focused; however, Natalie’s speech seems to regress in the presence of Moose and his friends, prompting Sadie to correct her, which bothers Moose at first. Sadie says that she and the other teachers are very proud of her progress. Natalie plays two games of “button checkers” with Theresa, winning as usual. Then, Natalie unsettles Moose by stammering that she is “angry” at him. When he asks why, she mumbles that she misses him.

Leading Annie and Theresa to an out-of-the-way playing field where he hopes Scout will not be, Moose broods about Natalie: Her loneliness, and the fact that she has been working hard at her social skills to so little effect. At the field, Annie spots two friends from Catholic school, Dolores and Peggy. When she introduces them to Moose, they smile knowingly. Again, Moose wonders how he can possibly carry out his task for Capone with a mob of passengers, including Darby Trixle, breathing down his neck on the ferry.

When Annie asks him if he’s received any more notes from Al Capone, he dodges the question, saying he has to buy flowers—for Piper. Annie and Theresa, dismayed, exchange a look. Moose finds a flower stand, but only has enough money to buy six yellow roses, not a full dozen. At the ferry landing, he is flummoxed by the size of the crowd, many of them journalists, who have come to see Capone’s wife off.

On the boat, Moose and his friends get their first glimpse of Mae Capone, an attractive woman in leather gloves and a mink wrap. Unfortunately, he also spots Warden Williams, who has come to keep tabs on the spectacle. With so many reporters and cameramen snooping around, Moose is forced to abandon his plan of having Theresa deliver the roses for him; however, he comes up with a clever alternative. He hands a single rose to Mae, and then to five other females: Bea Trixle, Doc Ollie’s sister, Mrs. Caconi, Annie, and Theresa. That way, he thinks, he can avoid the accusation of doing special favors for the Capones.

Darby Trixle is upset at Moose’s generosity to his wife, which (he feels) makes him look miserly, and he angrily upbraids Moose for having a sister who’s a “loose cannon.” Annie and Theresa, moreover, are perplexed that Moose gave roses he said were for Piper to others, including themselves. Annie seems touched by the gesture, but Theresa, who heard Mae Capone thank Moose by name, says she must record this “strange occurrence” in her convict files.

On the ferry, Darby Trixle interrogates Moose about why he boarded on the same run as Mae Capone, claiming that the warden thinks it’s suspicious. Moose pleads ignorance, saying he was just visiting his sister’s school. Darby is disgruntled to hear that Natalie’s institution is a school rather than a permanent home. Still angry about the gift to his wife, he demands to know why Moose bought the roses, but Bea comes to Moose’s defense, telling Darby to let the matter drop or she will never again make him a pineapple upside-down cake.

As the ferry nears Alcatraz, Annie baffles Moose by asking him how many kids he would have if he got married, adding that he ought to marry someone who can play baseball. As the passengers file off the boat, they are directed to walk through the “snitch box” (metal detector). Theresa tells Moose and Annie that she saw Mae Capone drop a handkerchief off the boat before she went through; she even noticed that it had a hummingbird pattern. After disembarking, the three children search the dock but find no handkerchief.

On Tuesday, August 27th, two days after he gave Mae a yellow rose, Moose still has not received any message in his laundry from Al Capone. Still, he feels hopeful. Natalie is doing well at school and will be visiting in a week, and the start of Moose’s school term in September will mean more opportunities for baseball for himself and Annie. Expecting a visit from Scout later in the day, he makes sure to fill out the paperwork correctly this time.

When Scout arrives, Jimmy seems excited to see him, but then tells Scout that he has something to show him. To Moose’s dismay, he leads Scout into the secret passageway under Building 64. Moose waits outside a long time, fuming to himself, as Jimmy shows the other boy around “Chinatown.” When they come out, Jimmy says casually that he has also told Annie and Piper about the passageway, shocking Moose.

After Jimmy leaves, Scout, sensing the tension between the two friends, tells Moose that he shouldn’t make his friend so angry. Moose, remembering that it was Scout who told Jimmy he throws like a “dead girl,” finds this exasperating. The two boys go to Piper’s house to look for Annie, who is supposed to be rehearsing a song with Buddy Boy to sing for Eliot Ness, who is going to be feted at Alcatraz in a couple of weeks. Willy One Arm, a pet mouse on his shoulder, answers the door and tells them that Mrs. Williams is not feeling well. In the living room, Buddy Boy is singing “On the Good Ship Lollipop,” with Annie accompanying him on piano. Moose finds Buddy’s flawless imitation of Shirley Temple a “little creepy.” Still, Buddy’s charm always makes Moose feel warm inside; it’s hard for him to believe that Buddy is a convicted felon.

Once they are alone, Moose reproaches Scout for his “chumminess” with Piper. Scout denies trying to come between the two of them, then offers advice on how to kiss Piper, which does not improve Moose’s mood. When Annie joins them to play baseball, she tells them that Piper is angry that Moose, her supposed boyfriend, did not save a rose for her. She adds that Jimmy is mad at him too, because he thinks that Moose hates playing baseball with anyone who isn’t as good as he is. Incensed by his two friends’ teasing, Moose takes out his anger on the ball, hitting it harder than ever.

After Scout takes the ferry back to the city, Moose crawls deep into the secret passageway. Sitting alone under Mrs. Caconi’s apartment, he broods about how Jimmy betrayed him by giving away their secret hideaway to Scout, supposedly because he thought Moose would give it away first.

Suddenly, he sees the flicker of a flashlight and hears someone crawling toward him through the passage. He tenses with fear, then sees it is only Piper. As she settles down beside him, Moose confides that he can’t understand why everyone is angry at him. Piper shares that she is still mad at him because he got to meet Al Capone. She thinks that everyone, including Annie, “fawns” over him, just because he’s a boy. Moose denies this; but then, feeling the warmth of Piper’s closeness, and remembering Scout’s kissing advice, Moose nervously tilts his mouth toward hers. Piper seems to respond to his clumsy overtures; but then, just as his teeth “nick” her lip, a scream echoes in the tunnel: Theresa, who has been spying on them, howls at Moose to stop what he is doing.

Enraged, Piper calls her a “little sneak.” However, Moose, hearing that Annie needs him, elects to go off with Theresa, while denying to her that he kissed Piper. Shocked at this betrayal, Piper shoves Moose aside, and shouts at him to leave her alone. Once Piper leaves, Theresa shudders that kissing Piper must be like kissing a “dead squid,” and claims that she “saved” him. To Moose’s mortification, she adds that she can’t wait to tell Annie.