Part 5 Summary

Dean makes it as far as Louisiana before his old car dies and he wires Inez to send plane fare. Upon his return to New York, Dean immediately marries Inez then leaves on a bus headed to San Francisco to see Camille and the two girls. Sal returns to the U.S. a month later when he encounters an old man with long white hair on a road in Texas who tells him to "Go moan for man." Soon after returning to New York, Sal meets a woman named Laura by chance who turns out to be the love of his life. Sal writes to Dean of his happy news and Dean replies that he will come to New York in six weeks to help Sal buy a car for a trip to San Francisco.

Suddenly Dean appears in less than a week...