The Good, the Bad, and the Butch

Sam Johnson encounters his former best friend Brian Evans while their mothers shop together. Brian now calls himself Butch and belongs to the Bones of Wrath. He mocks Sam’s tidy room, Bible, academic trophies, and awards-banquet tickets, even claiming that his own trophy is stolen. Yet the boys’ mothers remember their childhood friendship and hope Sam can be a good influence.

The Bones are furious that another prankster has drawn attention away from them. Rodney plans to restore their reputation by entering the school’s academic awards banquet and using lighters near a sprinkler sensor. The banquet requires tickets, and Butch volunteers to get Sam’s by pretending to renew their friendship.

Butch returns to Sam’s home with an apology. As Sam brings out objects they shared as children, the deception becomes difficult to maintain. A Cedric Wilson baseball card revives memories of a game they attended with Sam’s father, and Butch can still recite the player’s statistics. Sam gives the treasured card back to him. They find Butch’s forgotten skateboard and begin racing as they once did. The false friendship starts becoming real.

Lucy warns Sam that Butch and the Bones may be using him, but Sam believes his old friend is changing. The Bones notice the same thing. Butch refuses to steal Sam’s tickets and insists that Sam is not the boring target they imagined. Rodney challenges his loyalty and orders him to bring Sam to a gang meeting.

During an afternoon on Sam’s raft, Butch sees a park ranger and instinctively wants to flee, though neither boy has done anything wrong. Sam invites him to church. Butch mocks churchgoers as weak, then offers a bargain: if Sam proves he is not a coward by attending one Bones meeting, Butch will come to church.

At the meeting, Rodney pressures Sam to tell a dirty joke. Sam refuses, saying that it is wrong, while Butch objects that the gang does not normally begin this way. Privately, Rodney gives Butch an ultimatum: produce the banquet ticket or leave the Bones. Sam later assures Lucy that the meeting was a one-time bargain and that Butch has promised to attend church.

Butch tells Sam that he has quit the gang, but his halting explanation does not sound convincing. Sam then finds the Bible Butch borrowed years ago. Inside is a childhood prayer thanking Jesus for many good things and especially for moving Sam next door as his best friend. The memory leaves Butch visibly shaken. When he asks to accompany Sam to the awards banquet, Sam gladly gives him the extra ticket.

During the banquet, Butch disappears to the bathroom. Soon the sprinklers drench the guests. Afterward, Butch misses church and avoids Sam. Sam concludes that the friendship was only a setup and accuses him of helping the Bones enter. Butch protests that Sam’s good parents, grades, and church friends make right choices easy, while the Bones are among his few companions.

Sam answers that he truly wanted to be Butch’s friend. He still will be, but only if Butch stops hiding behind the gang identity and becomes Brian again. Butch insists that Brian is gone. Sam sadly tells him to send word if Brian ever returns because he misses him, then walks away without knowing which identity his old friend will choose.