Chapter 2, "The Pilot" Summary and Analysis

Frank runs away from home at age sixteen. Despite his father's healthy attitude towards his new financial situation, Frank cannot stand to see how far his father has fallen. Frank leaves without saying good-bye or even leaving a note. He has a $200 account in Chase Manhattan Bank, set up by his father a year earlier. He stays in New York where he is comfortable. He convinces a boy his age that he is an orphan. The boy's parents allow Frank to stay with them while he looks for work. Frank applies at stationery stores, where he has experience, and is hired at $1.50 an hour. He soon realizes he cannot survive on such a salary and decides to alter the birth date on his driver's license from 1948 to 1938. Frank has always looked older than his true...