How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
My brother sounded like a prophet of doom. I felt a chill come over me.
"What are you going to do?" I asked breathlessly.
"I'm going to put my great brain to work on getting rid of Mr. Standish," Tom answered. (7.56-58)
The thing about Tom is that when he makes a plan, he follows through. The kid's super reliable in this regard.
Quote #8
Tom put his hand on my shoulder. "Now listen to me, J.D.," he said earnestly. "Last spring when I saw Brownie making up to a female dog for the first time, I put my great brain to work. I took Brownie and Lady to see Mr. Monaire. I told him that Brownie was a purebred Alaskan and Lady was a genuine sheep dog. He carefully examined both dogs and agreed with me. I then drove a hard bargain with Mr. Monaire. I got him to agree to pay two dollars for any male pup and one dollar for any female pup by Lady and Brownie." (8.47)
Now that's what we call a plan. Just as Tom knows an opportunity when he sees it, Mr. Monaire knows a good sheep dog. These two are a match made in puppy selling heaven.
Quote #9
We discussed several ways for Andy to kill himself, only to discard them. I had never realized before what a problem it was for a person to figure out a way to kill himself. I was about to suggest we get Tom and his great brain to figure it out for us when Andy came up with an idea that sounded promising. (8.107)
Okay, so we know J.D. is not the great brains of the family, but how is he dumb enough to literally make a plan to help his friend kill himself? Can we chock this up to youth?