Empire Falls

Miles takes Cindy to the homecoming game, intending to get there early so they won’t be noticed by everyone. His plan, unfortunately, is foiled by his late start at work and her slow progress up the bleachers. Cindy tells Miles that she recently visited her father’s grave, finding Timmy the cat perched there, and that she put flowers on Miles’s mother’s grave. Miles interrupts her memories of his mother to retrieve her cane, which she dropped beneath the bleachers. He runs into Principal Meyer, an old friend from school, who tells him that Tick’s painting has been chosen for display in the city art show. Miles is proud to hear the news but saddened by the fact that Tick did not feel comfortable telling him herself. Meyer also mentions that the other painting chosen was by John Voss.

When Miles returns to the stands, he finds that Jimmy Minty has secured himself a seat next to Cindy. Miles resorts to slyly teasing the less educated man, which Minty recognizes and resents. They watch his son, Zack, deliver a vicious late hit to the quarterback, then penitently try to help the injured player off to the sidelines. Minty’s defense of the boy’s actions steels Miles’s defiance toward him.