Black Creek is an incredibly small, poor, white, Christian town. Religion is the largest and most important element in this rural community, and under the traditional laws of Christianity, homosexuality is a sin. Gay people living in this place feel unaccepted, and it is common for people to shame those who "play for the other team."
Cat is the protagonist in the book, and she is the one who spends the entire novel searching for the person responsible for Patrick's hospitalization. In the book, many different characters are introduced, and each one is suspected to have a motive. Cat's older brother, Christian, is a member of a friend group filled with teenagers, often referred to as the "redneck posse" by Cat. This friend group includes four boys, Christian, Tommy, Dupree, and Beef, and one girl, Bailee-Ann. It is known throughout the town that these five teens are infamous trouble makers, and aren't to be messed with. Before Patrick was attacked, him and these five were all hanging around, drinking and doing meth, a drug commonly used in such a poor community. After Cat had learned that these five were the last five to see Patrick, she was able to infer one of them was responsible. As it turns out, she was right.
Beef had been a family friend of Cat's since she was incredibly young. Him and her brother were always hanging out together, and she looked up to him like he was her own kin. Cat and her brother continued to have a difficult relationship throughout the story, and Beef was often a better role model than Christian had been. This made it all the more confusing when she found out Beef was a drug runner for the local meth cooker, Wally, and had thrown away an amazing wrestling scholarship by giving up in the most important meet of the season. One particular scene in the book narrates a time when Cat visited a gay bar just outside of Black Creek that Patrick frequently visited, looking for evidence that could lead her to Patrick's mystery boyfriend, someone she thought could lead her to his attacker. It is then revealed by the owner of the bar that Beef was Patrick's boyfriend, and Patrick had always been one to bother Beef about his drug addiction and the way he would often trade sex for more meth. At first, Cat couldn't believe Beef was gay, because whenever he was angry, he would lash out at Patrick with homophobic slurs. It can be inferred that by calling Patrick those names, Beef knew he was killing any suspicion people might have had of being found out. In such a homophobic place, people wouldn't treat him right because of his sexuality. Beef was raised in a place where God comes first, and being anything but heterosexual was wrong.
In the last few chapters, Cat discovers that Beef was actually the one who attacked Patrick at the gas station. But why would Beef assault his own boyfriend? In the very last chapter, there is a confrontation between Cat and Beef at Suicide Rock, a place kids take high risk jumps off into a lake hundreds of feet below. Beef stated that lashing out at Patrick was almost like lashing out at himself. He wasn't accepted in his home town, and by the people he loved. This feeling of being on the outside gave him a reason for him to feel disconnected from society. By attacking Patrick, Beef was attacking what he believed to be his own imperfections. In the end, Beef jumps off the rock, and crashes on the rocks below. He was high, and he killed himself after being discovered by Cat. Beef not only was afraid of being convicted of a crime, but he also knew the investigation of that crime would lead to him being forced to come out as gay. He killed himself in fear of coming out as gay.
The homophobic beliefs in this town made Beef give up on his future, because “how could anybody accept a homo?” He became addicted to meth, traded sex for drugs, attacked one of the most beloved people in his life, and killed himself, all because he feared his family, guy friends and girl friends, siblings, abusive father, and even dead mother wouldn’t love him for who he was. Sexuality is a huge part of a person’s identity, and it’s important to love people for who they are.
The year is 2016, and things like this happen everyday. With the new legalization of gay marriage on June 26th, 2015, the time has come for people to realize they need to be more open. Racism and sexism and homophobia need to be retired. This is a new era for equality for all, and these beliefs are what is truly unacceptable. There is no wrong when it comes to gender identity, race, sex, and sexuality. Everyone has the right to feel good about who they are.
