shawn thinks he pretty cute in a gimped out way
gimped-A limp or limping gait

as days become weeks and the week draws into a fortnight
fortnight-the space of fourteen nights and days; two weeks.

shawns dad never said he was going to kill him it was just a gut feeling
intuition-direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.

shawns dad won this award for the best poem
pulitzer-Hungarian-born American journalist and newspaper publisher who established and endowed the Pulitzer Prizes.

In shawns eyes there is cracking
quivering-To shake with a slight, rapid, tremulous movement