Contents
Interlude III: Jack
Overview
This interlude reveals Steve’s adolescence: orphaned, he turns to burglary, meets Jack, and escalates to riskier crimes. A pharmacy heist goes wrong; Jack is caught, imprisoned, and dies by suicide after abuse. Steve’s enduring guilt explains his wary, haunted demeanor and deepens the stakes around his current plight.
Summary
The chapter traces Steve’s life from age twelve, when a car crash kills his parents and leaves him briefly comatose. He moves to Aunt Mary’s trailer, loses his home and friends, and grows angry and isolated. Petty theft escalates to burglary, and a jewelry-box haul cements his devotion to stealing.
Steve finds a fence, Quiet Lou, and keeps select trophies, including a leather jacket. At school he meets Jack, a rich yet volatile classmate who recognizes the jacket from a burglary. They bond over drugs and shoplifting, and soon Jack joins Steve on residential break-ins.
Jack’s temper and cruelty worsen—he suggests arson and commits vile vandalism—while Steve becomes semi-adopted by Jack’s kind parents, Martin and Celia. After Jack is caught selling cut marijuana, his family blames Steve and forbids their friendship.
To gain independence, Steve plans a car purchase and, through Lou, targets a pharmacy. He and Jack cut through the roof, gather pills, and spot approaching police. Jack urges Steve to flee; Steve escapes while Jack is arrested and charged as an adult.
Despite a good lawyer, prison proves brutal for Jack. After months of abuse, Jack dies by suicide. At the graveside, Celia confronts Steve in grief and anger. Steve accepts silent blame, and his enduring guilt becomes a defining refrain of his life.
Who Appears
- SteveOrphaned at twelve; turns to burglary; befriends Jack; escapes pharmacy bust as Jack is caught; carries lifelong guilt after Jack’s prison suicide.
- JackRich classmate with a violent streak; partners in thefts; arrested in pharmacy heist; abused in prison; dies by suicide.
- Aunt MarySteve’s guardian after the crash; neglectful, brings home Clem; provides unstable home in a single-wide trailer.
- Quiet LouIllicit fence and adviser; buys stolen goods; supplies the roof saw; explains prison dangers.
- CeliaJack’s mother; kind to Steve earlier; later blames him; confronts him at Jack’s graveside in grief.
- MartinJack’s father; churchgoing and kind; shelters Steve before the friendship is forbidden after Jack’s arrest.
- ClemAunt Mary’s boyfriend; helps retrieve limited belongings from Steve’s foreclosed home.