Rusty gets stabbed in Chapter Three. In this chapter, Biff Wilcox threatens to kill Rusty for saying something less than complimentary to a girl named Anita.

Biff begins the fight in a bad state. Everyone thinks that he's been taking drugs, and Biff's temperamental behavior seemingly validates the claims. During the fight, Biff pulls out a knife, and Rusty becomes frustrated when he realizes that he doesn't have one he can use. However, someone hands Rusty a bicycle chain, and he goes at Biff with the chain.

By skilfully maneuvering the chain, Rusty is able to get the knife away from Biff. During the fight, it is apparent that Biff can't hold a candle to Rusty when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. As Rusty is about to extract a verbal surrender from Biff, however, Motorcycle Boy turns up. He's Rusty's older brother. Rusty, shocked to see his brother, turns around to greet him. However, while addressing Motorcycle Boy, Rusty takes his eyes off Biff, and the older boy takes this chance to lunge at Rusty with his blade. As a result, Rusty gets a nasty wound on his side, and he bleeds badly.

Motorcycle Boy and Steve take Rusty James home. There, Motorcycle Boy makes Rusty drink some leftover wine before he pours the rest over the wound to disinfect it. Although Steve stresses that Rusty should go to the hospital, Motorcycle Boy doesn't make a move to take his brother there. Instead, he maintains to Steve that Rusty has been hurt far worse in the past. The chapter ends with Rusty thinking about how happy he is that his brother is now home.