Tell the Wolves I'm Home

June explains her practice of going into the woods behind her school, where she pretends that she lives in the Middle Ages. She obtained her love of medievalism from Finn, who taught her about its art and even bought her a pair of medieval boots at a festival. She recalls telling Finn, but no one else, of her time spent in the woods.

Greta refuses to attend the Sunday sessions any longer. June and her mother, Danielle, go to Finn’s once per week, and June knows that this means Finn’s death is approaching. June brings up Finn’s impending death to Greta, who insists that Finn has only included Greta in the painting to be polite.

It is tax season, and June’s parents, both accountants, are rarely home. June is working on homework when she answers the ringing phone. An unfamiliar voice asks for her mother, but when June indicates that Danielle is not home, the caller asks if it is June he is speaking to. Alarmed, June hangs up. The caller calls again, leaving a message on the answering machine explaining that he is calling about Finn. June is certain that this means Finn has died.

June recalls learning of Finn’s AIDS diagnosis when her mother, instead of taking her to her dentist appointment, took June to a diner instead. She instructed June to choose some music from the jukebox and then told her that Finn was dying of AIDS.

Finn’s funeral is held, and June thinks back to her father retrieving the painting from Finn’s apartment after his death. It is covered by a plastic bag, and no one looks at it. Outside the funeral, her mother becomes upset when she spots a specific man. June’s father asks the girls to alert him if the man attempts to enter to attend the service. Greta asserts that this is Finn’s boyfriend, but June is uncertain whether she should believe Greta, having difficulty believing that Finn would keep such as person’s existence a secret from her.

After a snowstorm, June ventures into the woods. She tries to pretend she is in the Middle Ages but keeps thinking about Finn. She supposes the man who telephoned was Finn’s boyfriend. She hears animals howling and leaves the woods.

Greta asks June to go to a party with her. June, hating parties, hesitates, but recalling how she and Greta used to be much closer, she agrees. Greta is excited, insisting that they can become close again now that Finn is gone. June argues that she will not forget about Finn, and Greta becomes angry.

Finn was also June’s godfather, while Greta’s godparents are a neighbor couple who are friends of their parents. June knows that Greta has always been jealous of June’s special relationship with their uncle.

A few days after the funeral, the family finally looks at the portrait. They study it for a long time, and June notices her mother’s sadness. June feels as though something is different about the painting and then realizes that Finn has painted buttons onto her t-shirt. They have the painting framed, and the framer delivers it personally when it is finished.

A few weeks pass, and June receives Finn’s Russian teapot in the mail. June recalls overhearing him argue with her mother about it during one of their final sessions for the painting; June’s mother didn’t want Finn to give June the teapot. June finds a note addressed to herself inside. She realizes that the person who delivered the package was not a mail carrier at all, but Finn’s boyfriend.

June takes the note to the woods. It is from Finn’s boyfriend, Toby, who would like to meet June. He feels that she is likely the only one who misses Finn as much as he does. He proposes that they meet at the train station and lists a date and time when he will wait for her there.

That night, June asks her mother what will happen to Finn’s apartment. Her mother is reluctant to say that Finn’s boyfriend will be living there, calling him by the euphemism of Finn’s “special friend” and speaking of how Finn did not always make the best choices. June thinks of the note from Toby.

Greta reminds June of the party that June agreed to attend, explaining that they will tell their parents that June is attending drama practice with Greta. Later, Greta slips June a note telling her that the party has been canceled. June, however, must still attend the practice. There, she watches Greta sing and interact with the other students, thinking of how relaxed she looks and how effortless social situations are for Greta.

June recalls how Finn used to invite her to visit the Cloisters with him some Sundays. Greta would mock June, telling her she was in love with Finn. At the Cloisters, June appreciated the quiet and emptiness. She recalls talking with Finn about death once, though it was before she knew that Finn was dying. June rereads Toby’s note when she visits the woods, unsure whether she should meet him.

One Sunday, a neighbor places a copy of The New York Times in the Elbuses’ mailbox. In it is an article about the painting, which, they learn, Finn titled Tell the Wolves I’m Home. Greta reads the article aloud to the family. It speaks of Finn’s increasing reclusiveness and of his AIDS diagnosis. Upset, their mother leaves the room. Greta and June argue about the article, with Greta finding it creepy that her image is being mentioned alongside AIDS. Their father tosses the newspaper into the burning fireplace.

That afternoon, June goes to the mall, having been invited by a former friend called Beans. June accepts the invitation only to oblige her mother. At the mall, she goes off by herself to the movie theater to watch Amadeus. That night, the family speculates as to who could have submitted the slides of the painting to the Times.

June gets a photocopy of the Times article at the library. The librarian is overjoyed, gushing about June being famous. June reads the rest of the article, which discusses a self-portrait Finn completed in 1979. It notes that Tell the Wolves I’m Home could be worth as much as $700,000.

When she returns home, June discovers that her parents have removed the painting and placed it in a bank vault.

The family goes to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate June’s father’s birthday, which has already passed. June thinks about Finn’s presence at past birthday dinners, such as her mother’s 40th, when Finn had given her a sketchbook with an inscription daring her to use it. The mood is a sullen one, and the family barely talks.

June thinks about the note from Toby on the way home. The meeting date—March 6—is only three days away. She knows she should not break her parents’ trust, yet she feels that Toby may be a way to access Finn.

June is in the shower when Greta tells her that the party is finally taking place the next day. June thinks about how it is the same day as Toby’s scheduled meeting. When Greta tells her that the party is in the woods behind the school, June knows she will be at an advantage over Greta.

June makes a list of reasons to hate Toby, wanting to not appear soft and desperate when she meets him.

June arrives at the train station and sees Toby in the distance. He spots her and waves. They board the train, sitting opposite one another. Toby knows June’s parents do not like him and wants to put June at ease. He gives her part of a donut from a bag and speaks of how much Finn talked about her. June tries to shrug this off, but she is moved.

When they reach Grand Central Station, they exit the train. Toby gives June a paper bag with an item in it that he says is from Finn and then tells her that there are more things for her if she visits him at the apartment. June concedes that she might call him, but as she buys a ticket home, she thinks she will most likely never see Toby again.