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Presented by Josh Altman and Hunter Kelnhofer

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Throughout the book, Jr has had good and bad relationships. From people hurting him and bullying him, to people helping him up and giving him confidence.

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Because Rowdy has abusive parents, he spends lots of time at Jr.’s house.

"His father is drinking hard and throwing hard punches, so Rowdy and his mother are always walking around with bruised and bloody faces.
'It's war paint,' Rowdy always says. 'It just makes me look tougher.' (Alexie 16).”

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Rowdy is the toughest kid on the Reservation and protects Jr. from people that pick on him for having “water on the brain”. Rowdy and Jr. have been friends since they were little and have done almost everything together.

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In the beginning of the book Jr. and Rowdy are best friends and are inseparable, but when Jr. mentioned the idea that he would leave the reservation to go to a white kid school, Rowdy was furious. Rowdy even punch Jr. because he felt betrayed and didn’t understand why Jr. wanted a better education. Later on Rowdy began to understand why Jr. left and eventually became good friends again.

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Eugene was Jr.’s dad’s friend, who is a drunk and rides a motorcycle. Although he was a drunk he supported Jr. with anything he did, saying “you can do it”. When Jr. wanted to switch schools, Eugene was one of the few people that supported his idea from the beginning. Unfortunately Eugene was shot after a drunk argument over the last drink of a booze bottle in a 7-11 parking lot.

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Mr. P is not mentioned in the book much but he plays big part in Jr.’s life. Without Mr. P building up Jr.’s confidence he would’ve never realized the benefits of getting a better education and he would’ve never went to Reardan to get a better outcome at life.

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Jr.’s grandmother was a truly humble person. She wasn’t afraid to talk to anyone or give people advice on important topics. When grandmother Spirit was killed by a drunk driver, her last wish was that her family forgave the drunk driver that killed her.

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Jr. best influence is his grandma. She is juniors rock to lean on and is there for Jr. she is one of the only person on the Rez to not drink. Grandma spirit gave the best advice to Jr. and always pointed him into the right direction. If Arnold had any problems or was scared of something he would tell his grandma everything to hear what’s he had to say.

"Whenever we went to Spokane, my grandmother would talk to anybody, even the homeless people, even the homeless guys who were talking to invisible people.

My grandmother would start talking to the invisible people, too.(Alexie 155)”

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Jr.’s parents are not the best influences on him. While his mom is an ex drunk, his dad is a drunk and addicted to gambling. Many times his dad has gambled away his families money and hurt the whole family.

“My dad was supposed to pick me up. But he wasn’t sure if he would have enough gas money. Especially if he was going to stop at the Rez casino and play slot machines first (Alexie 87).”

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Jr.’s family is a less fortunate family and they try their best but it doesn’t always work. Some days, Jr. has to walk home from school and doesn’t know if he is going to get picked up or not.

“But I can’t blame my parents for our poverty because my mother and father are the twin suns around which I orbit and my world would EXPLODE without them.(Alexie 11)”

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Arnold is a small, shy, and quiet Indian kid that lives on the Spokane reservation. He expresses himself through pictures instead of talking.

“I draw because words are two unpredictable . . . I draw because words are too limited. (Alexie 5)”

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When Arnold said he has water on the brain the condition he is referring to is hydrocephalus which is when brain fluid is not reabsorbed into the circulatory system. The excess fluid pressure forces the brain against the skull and can destroy brain tissue. Eye coordination, motor skills, muscles, memory, social behavior, learning, judgment, and personality can be affected depending on where and how much pressure it is causing on the brain.