Small Steps

Theodore “Armpit” Johnson is Small Step’s 16-year-old protagonist. He is Black, tall, with “broad shoulders and thick muscular arms” (2). His nickname, “Armpit,” stuck from his time at the juvenile correction facility Camp Green Lake. A scorpion sting caused so much pain in his armpit that he complained incessantly about it. Armpit was sent to Camp Green Lake when he was 14 because of a fight with several high school seniors who deliberately tripped him in a movie theater, making him spill popcorn. After Camp Green Lake, Armpit spent six months at a halfway house before moving back home to the flatlands of east Austin, Texas. Armpit lives with his father, a meter reader during the day and a taxicab dispatcher at night, and his mother, who works at a local supermarket. Armpit’s older sister has moved away, and his older brother is in jail. Armpit has a strained relationship with his parents, who conduct random drug tests, even though he has never been involved with drugs or alcohol. Armpit’s parents make Armpit feel like “he was under attack the second he walked in the door, so he didn’t tell them anything except his name rank and serial number” (136).