Chapter 31 Summary

At the beginning of Chapter Thirty-one, back in the apartment, Jack is waiting for Billie to come home late from work . Their first topic of conversation is about whether Jack might have killed her goldfish by giving him cornflakes, and his asking like a confused child why fish have to die. Their conversation from there is a jumbled back and forth about how badly Billie wants to get married, with Kerouac pointing out that she really loves Cody. He suggests instead that at least they wouldn't have to have sex all the time, but rather, just live in a place they defined by truth and live there as parallel and whole people.

As a solution to the mess of the city and the fog he has fallen into, he suggests they go with Dave and Romana back to the cabin for the weekend...