Way of the Warrior Kid

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Marc is hungry from working so hard, and he fixes himself some chips, a microwaveable sandwich, and a grape soda. Jake discovers this and is disgusted with the “JUNK” on his plate, which “won’t help [his] muscles to recover […] won’t help [him] think clearly […and] won’t help [him] get better” (107). He needs “to eat REAL FOOD. Steak. Fish. Chicken. Eggs. Pork. Salad. Vegetables. Nuts and seeds. Stuff that is real food, not stuff that comes from a factory like those potato chips…or that sandwich!” (109). Jake orders Marc to throw away the junk food, and he joins Jake in eating chicken with salad and a glass of milk. Marc’s mother lets him know that she won’t be buying any more junk food.

Jake has been progressively getting Marc to do more in the water, to the point where he’s now comfortable with a basic crawl stroke. Jake then tells him to swim to the other side of the river and back, which makes Marc very nervous; he says he might drown. Jake promises that “in the SEAL Teams, we never do anything in the water alone” and that he will be right there with him (114).