Why does Junior need evidence before deciding what Roger’s silence means?

Junior needs evidence about Roger because a painful experience can make the next person’s actions easy to misread. After Rowdy treats him like a traitor, Junior is susceptible to expecting more rejection. Roger, the Reardan student Junior has just punched, walks away instead of continuing the fight. Junior explains, “I had followed the rules of fighting” (Alexie 65). This says that he acted according to expectations he had already learned. It shows why Roger’s departure confuses him: Junior expects an impending fight, but Roger is following a different pattern. Junior needs a rationale, a reason that explains the behavior, rather than a prediction based only on fear. Grandmother suggests respect as one possibility. However, her explanation needs to be tested against what Roger actually does. Junior later reports, “He paid me some respect” (Alexie 72). This says that Roger’s next behavior is respectful rather than the revenge Junior feared. It shows that observing another encounter can improve Junior’s understanding. The change does not make every person at Reardan friendly or every conflict safe. Because the new evidence differs from his expectation, Junior has a reason to revise that expectation. Learning the people around him requires watching them as well as remembering what others have done.