Two Roads: Chapters 18–22

by Joseph Bruchac
While his father is on a campaign to pressure Congress and President Hoover to deliver bonus payments owed to veterans of the Great War, twelve-year-old Calvin Blackbird must fight his own battles at a federal agricultural Native American boarding school in Oklahoma.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–11, Chapters 12–17, Chapters 18–22, Chapters 23–30
40 words 20 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. instill
    teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
    The campus of the Indian school is so vast. It’s as if the place was built to instill a sense of awe in those sent here. Make them feel small and powerless.
  2. keen
    demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
    I’ve always had eyesight that is keen. Like a red-tail hawk, Pop says.
  3. assortment
    a collection containing a variety of kinds of things
    There’s a small assortment of clothes on the first table as we walk in the door and a box off to the side.
  4. stoop
    bend one's back forward from the waist on down
    “All set for picking rocks in the fields. Or maybe a-swamping out the horse stables.”
    He looks at my face as he says those last few words. Likely to see if it changes any due to his mention of hard chores. But stoop labor has never bothered me.
  5. callous
    a skin area that is thick or hard from continual pressure
    He grabs one of my hands and turns it palm up. He feels the callouses there with a meaty finger twice the size of any of my own.
    “Done some work, y’all?”
  6. don
    put on clothes
    Skinny lets go of my hand, ducks down below the table, and comes up with another pile of clothes. All neatly folded, they’re a far cry from the everyday work duds I have just donned.
  7. plumb
    completely
    I should be nervous. But I have just plumb used up all my nervousness.
  8. buffalo
    intimidate or overawe
    I wouldn’t normally make a joke out of being confronted like this. But I’m not in the mood right now to be buffaloed.
  9. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    Bear Meat furrows his brows and looks into my face.
  10. confabulate
    talk socially without exchanging too much information
    Out of the corners of my eyes I can see that our group got considerably larger while Bear Meat and I were confabulating.
  11. opine
    express one's view openly and without fear or hesitation
    “Who’s he?” I hear someone say.
    “New kid,” another person answers.
    “Jay Bird,” Possum corrects him.
    “Pancake right quick,” a fourth boy opines.
  12. omit
    leave undone or leave out
    “Nobody pushed me. I fell.” Which is pretty much true, though I do omit the part about someone falling on top of me.
  13. victuals
    any substance that can be used as food
    My stomach is about to move in with my backbone. Last time I tasted victuals was after Pop and I loaded in those horses.
  14. demarcation
    the boundary of a specific area
    Possum points with his lips at the line of demarcation.
    “That there is no-man’s-land,” he chuckles. “Everything but land mines and barbed wire.”
  15. multitude
    a large gathering of people
    The rattling of dishes from the kitchen, the shuffling of hundreds of pairs of student feet on the floor drown out the grace spoken in a normal tone by Superintendent Morrell who’s standing, hands raised, palms out, like a surrendering soldier. All the assembled multitude hears is his final word.
  16. gristle
    tough elastic tissue found in meat
    The beef’s nearly gray in color and ribbed with gristle.
  17. mangle
    destroy or injure severely
    It’s amazing no one gets a hand impaled. And mighty sensible, I now realize, that we’ve not been issued knives for our meals. If we were, we’d likely end up with mangled mitts after chow.
  18. conducive
    tending to bring about; being partly responsible for
    Chewing beef that would make shoe leather seem tender is not conducive to talking.
  19. torrent
    a violently fast stream of water or other liquid
    He heaved me up over one broad shoulder, carried me outside to the horse trough, dropped me in, and worked the handle of the pump so vigorously that I near drowned in the torrent of cold water.
  20. scrabble
    grope, scratch, or feel searchingly
    But then I heard a soft scrabbling sound, like a big squirrel on a tree trunk.
  21. civic
    of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals
    The Indian club’s main job is to perform off campus. Civic groups, fairs, and the like. They do it to raise money and represent the school in a positive way to the general public.
  22. in earnest
    in a serious manner
    Head down, arms pumping, I sprint past Ray Chapman. He’s so surprised he almost tangles his feet as he turns to run in earnest.
  23. allotment
    distribution according to a plan
    All of them have some Indian ancestry—or claim to. All of them are on the tribal rolls of one Indian nation or another. Most are from one of the historic communities that were reservations before allotment and the Oklahoma land rushes.
  24. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    “Really?” Mrs. Tygue said, a skeptical smile on her face.
  25. reticent
    not inclined to talk or provide information
    I nodded and then did something I could never do in my own voice, me being reticent to say more than a few words at a time.
  26. diverting
    providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining
    He’s also the one most likely, too, to do something diverting or funny whenever things get too serious.
  27. skewed
    favoring one person or side over another
    According to Possum, more Indian kids have run away from Challagi than have ever actually graduated. That ratio may be sort of skewed seeing as how there are a bunch of kids, like Pop, who ran away again and again.
  28. keepsake
    something of sentimental value
    But that pack was taken from me. Like such personal items as family photos, good clothing, keepsakes, and jewelry other Indian students arrived with at the start of the year, my pack is in “safe storage” in the basement of Building Four.
  29. precognition
    knowledge of an event before it occurs
    That gift of mine of precognition—sort of viewing the future—only kicks in rarely.
  30. demerit
    a mark against a person or group for misconduct or failure
    I am keeping out of trouble. So far I have only earned a few demerits.
  31. infraction
    a violation of a law or rule
    Plus, from the glint of light I see from the top of the water tower, I know we are being watched for any sort of infraction that will add marks to our red cards.
  32. bursar
    the treasurer at a college or university
    “Didn’t your Pop leave you no money on your account with the school bursar?”
  33. slipshod
    marked by great carelessness
    “I sure as blazes did not make this pair,” he says. “One of my lazy Indian boys done this slipshod job. Not worth the powder to blow ’em to hell.”
  34. neutral
    possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics
    “Calvin?” he asks in a voice about as neutral as a blank sheet of paper.
  35. disburse
    expend, as from a fund
    “All I can disburse per month. Five.” He holds out five one-dollar bills.
  36. gruff
    blunt and unfriendly or stern
    It’s being driven by Mr. Handler, who saw us walking and ordered us to hop on board in that gruff voice of his, which I now realize covers up a soft heart.
  37. precariously
    in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
    I stand and walk back and forth down the crowded aisle of O’Boyle’s, being careful not to knock over any of the various sized boxes piled precariously on all sides and filled with all sorts of stuff.
  38. ruddy
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    “Yes, indeedy do,” the ruddy cheeked proprietor says.
  39. proprietor
    someone who owns a business
    “Yes, indeedy do,” the ruddy cheeked proprietor says. He rubs his huge palms together so hard you’d think he was trying to start a fire. “Plimsolls was what they called them when they first attached rubber to the sole of a shoe. Then in ’92 along came the U.S. Rubber Company with their canvas tops. It was they who named them Keds.”
  40. buff
    an ardent fan or follower
    Possum had warned me that anything bought at O’Boyle’s would come with an explanatory lecture from the store’s owner who was a history buff.
Created on Sat May 04 11:56:21 EDT 2024 (updated Mon May 06 11:03:09 EDT 2024)

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