Chapters 13 and 14 Summary

In Chapter Thirteen, "A Hole in the Heart," Joe still has trouble making himself go into the fancy hotel suite where he is staying. He reflects that heaven does not exist for Emma or his father or anyone who dies, because this life is all one has, and he is embarrassed to be wasting time in this frivolous suite. He meets Dion in Tampa, and they go to a speakeasy where alligators thrash in a swamp underneath the porch. Without even speaking, Dion and Joe know that Dion's secret is out. He betrayed Joe, telling Albert White that Joe and the Bartolos were going to hold up the Pittsfield bank. Albert said he knew a judge who would give all three men only a year in prison, which Dion thought was safer than dealing with Joe's unhinged condition because of his...