Bryon agrees the gang isn’t as close as it once was, but Bryon sees this as a sign of growing up more than growing apart. Mark is sent to the hospital and later confesses to Bryon that having him there in the hospital made him realize how Bryon really is Mark’s only family.Īs Mark recuperates, he tells Bryon he worries about the gang falling apart. His ex-girlfriend Angela asked a boy to beat up Ponyboy Curtis and when Mark tries to stop the fight, he gets hit. It happens while Bryon is on his first date with Cathy. He is immediately attracted to her and appreciates that she isn’t interested in gang life.īefore too long, violence erupts again. Mark, on the other hand, stays firmly entrenched in his belief of retribution and thinks the boy’s stance is stupid.Īt the hospital Bryon also meets Cathy, M&M’s older sister who has just returned from private school. For Bryon, whose life has been one kneejerk reaction to violence after another, the idea of forgiveness confounds him. At the hospital, Bryon has another interaction that spurs self-questioning: he meets a boy who was badly beaten yet doesn’t blame his attackers. But, starting with their friend M&M’s disapproval of their actions, the novel chronicles the beginning and evolution of Bryon’s existential crisis.īryon and Mark’s mother is in the hospital at the beginning of the book. Neither one has thought twice about their actions before now.

Their lives are comprised of fun and fighting as they look for people to beat up while defending their friends from beatings. At the start of the novel, Bryon and Mark are doing their usual routine of hanging out and hustling at the local pool hall. The main characters are Bryon Douglas and his best friend/adopted younger brother Mark. “That Was Then, This Is Now” is the second of five novels by S.E.

The book that was then this is now