Chapter 10 Summary

Joe lies insensible for some time. Vaguely, he hears the household prepare to depart. He listens as they insist Bobbie take the money Joe brought. Mame tucks a banknote into Joe's pocket and stands guard to ensure the others don't steal that, too. The door closes, and they are gone. After a bit, Joe is able to sit up dizzily. Aware only of his need to get out of there, Joe wanders the house and fortifies himself with a shot of whiskey. With his body beginning to respond at last, Joe leaves the house and enters "the street which was to run for fifteen years." (pg. 210) From that night on, one street leads to another, and Joe's restless journey leads him from Oklahoma and Missouri to Mexico, and back north again to Chicago and Detroit, ending at last in Mississippi fifteen years later...