Freak the Mighty: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

The address on Loretta Lee’s ID is across the millpond in what people used to call the New Tenements. Now, everyone calls it the New Testaments, and Gram forbade Max from going there. The day after Max and Freak recover the purse, Freak insists that it’s okay to break a promise for a quest. Freak believes there might be a reward, but Max insists that only poor people and drug addicts live in the Testaments. Regardless, with Freak on his shoulders, Max sneaks around the millpond, happy to have a smart brain for once. Freak talks about the Round Table until they get to the Testaments, which looks sad and smells bad. Freak nervously suggests they rethink their quest. Max insists that Loretta might need her ID.

The door opens before Max even rings the bell. A creepy-looking hand snakes out and grabs a newspaper, and then a woman starts cussing Max and Freak out and calling for Iggy. The door opens to reveal a scrawny blonde woman in a bathrobe. She smokes and squints at them. A huge hairy man with a beer belly and blue tattoos joins her and he insults Max and Freak. The woman insists she knows Max, but Freak interjects that they’re looking for Loretta Lee. The man begins to laugh and he pokes Max hard in the chest. Max freezes. He knows the man must be Iggy Lee, the boss of a scary motorcycle gang. Freak blurts out that they found Loretta Lee’s purse and he tosses it. Iggy Lee catches it and then he invites the boys inside. Freak tries to decline, but Loretta says that they have to.

Max lifts Freak down to enter, and Iggy makes Max sit in a ratty chair, insisting that it makes him nervous to look up. Loretta warns Max to not make Iggy nervous. When Iggy asks for their names, Freak insists they have to go home. Iggy flicks Freak on the nose, but Freak doesn’t say anything except their names. Then, Iggy asks where they got Loretta’s purse. Freak tells the truth and Iggy asks where the money is. Loretta coughs and she says that there was no money, but Iggy tells her to shut up. Max can tell that Loretta is afraid of Iggy. Suddenly, Loretta jumps up and shouts “Kenny Kane!” Max thinks for a moment that Iggy is going to hit Loretta, but then Iggy relaxes and he says that Max must be Killer Kane’s son.

Thrilled with herself, Loretta goes to the kitchen, brings Iggy a can of Bud Light, and starts to reminisce about Kenny. Iggy cuts her off, tells her to shut up, and crushes his can after he drains it. Max notices that the entire apartment is covered in crushed cans. Freak gives Max a confused look that scares Max more than anything else. Loretta says that Freak must be Gwen’s kid, but Iggy says he doesn’t remember Gwen. She continues that Kenny is in prison now, and Iggy asks Max to tell Kenny hi. Max says nothing, but Iggy says that Killer Kane was tough and Loretta asks if it’s true that Kenny found religion. Max admits he doesn’t know, and Loretta says that Max must be stupid and disabled.

Loretta thinks that Max doesn’t know how strong he is and so she suggests that Iggy find out. Iggy scowls and he tells the boys to leave. When Loretta protests, Iggy calls her stupid and he says that he doesn’t want Kenny to hear that he messed with Max. When Loretta insists that Kenny is in prison for life, Iggy spits that life doesn’t always mean life. At the door, Loretta tries to rub Freak’s head for luck. Freak does his best to evade her. Annoyed, Loretta says that she knew Freak’s dad and that he was a magician. Freak looks like he really wants to know about his father. Loretta says that he was a magician because as soon as he heard “birth defect,” he disappeared. Iggy shoves the boys out the door.