John Nickel

John Nickel is the protagonist of the novel. Before the beginning of the narrative, he was a popular Memphis blues drummer until his girlfriend, Marion Woodmoore, became pregnant. John initially refused to marry her, but once his son Franklin was born, he became determined to win Marion back. Marion forces him to get a job - namely bartending at Muddy's - to put her through nursing school. When she gets her degree, however, Marion takes Franklin and moves to Miami.

When the novel begins, John has becomes the manager of Muddy's. One day, he hires a young looking girl from east Tennessee called Fay Taft. He worries that she is not of legal age, but he finds her strangely compelling. She has recently lost her father. John's life consists of working all day and night and occasionally speaking to his son on the phone. From time to...