Part 1: The Body, Chapter 12 Summary

A few weeks later, Iris is at home alone once again and decides to leave the apartment around midnight to buy cigarettes at Cheney's, a variety store located in an undesirable section of Gowanda Street. When Iris arrives at Cheney's, she notes that she is one of only two white girls in the store and feels a thrill at the implicit danger of the situation. Jinx Fairchild takes brief note of Iris as he mops the floor and rings up Iris's sale of cigarettes. Jinx's friend, Bobo Ritchie, makes flirts outrageously with Iris who feigns cool indifference as if she spends all her nights smoking and drinking with strangers.

After conversing for a while with some of the others gathered at Cheney's, Iris leaves Cheney's store and heads toward home. The streets are quiet and deserted at...