The events of the novel take place in 1968 - 1972. Excerpts from the diary of Billy Abbott pass through the entire novel with refrain. He is watching the family of the Jordahs from the side. His reasoning, as a rule, is extremely cynical.
Part one
Journalist Alexander Hubbel and his wife came to rest in Antibes. For several days he was haunted by an article from a magazine that mentioned Jordah, the owner of the Clotilde yacht, who was killed on the sixth day after marriage. Hubbel remembered the mayor of Whitby, whose surname was also the Jords. Hoping for a naughty story, Hubbel began an investigation. First, he visited the Antibes police department and found out that Thomas Jorda's sister-in-law was involved in this story. Having learned from the policeman that Jean Jordah was staying at the Du Cap hotel, the journalist went to her.
On board the Clotilda, everyone was worried about Tom's death. Kate Jordah was packing her things: she was about to leave for England. To everyone's relief, Gene was not on the boat. Sitting on a bench in the hotel's garden, she said to herself: "I destroy everything that I touch." Visiting Gene first, and then, entering the Jordach yacht, Hubbell returned to his hotel and set to work. Billy did not come to the funeral.
After some time, Rudolph gathered Dwyer (Rabbit), Kate and Wesley aboard the Clotilde to talk about the inheritance. Everything was complicated by the fact that Tom did not leave a will. Rudolph was surprised at how indifferent these people were to money. He realized that he would have to solve all the problems relating to inheritance himself. Visiting the consul in Nice, Rudolph realized that the transfer of the state of Thomas Jordah to his heirs would not be easy, because Tom was an American citizen who died in a foreign country. It seemed to Rudolph that he fell into a dense web of legal provisions, and the more he tried to free himself, the more he got confused.
Rudolph did not want to return to Antibes. He crossed the English Boulevard, entered the cafe, sat at a table on the terrace and ordered coffee and cognac. At a nearby table, a woman in a blue dress was reading a magazine. She was the first to pay attention to Rudolph, and he decided that she made a living from this. Rudolph decided that he could afford to spend the night with a European courtesan, no matter how much it cost. The woman took him to her home and they spent the night together. In the morning it turned out that Rudolph was wrong. Jeanne was married. Her husband was an assistant military attache in Washington, and now temporarily served at the Higher Military School in Paris. Jeanne lived in Nice, her two children went to school here. Husband neglected Jeanne, she felt abandoned, and therefore chose Rudolph that evening.
When Rudolph returned to Antibes, Gretchen informed him that Wesley was in jail in Cannes. He hit a man with a beer bottle, and then had a fight with a policeman. When Rudolph approached the building of the Cannes prefecture, Dwyer was waiting for him. He told Rudolph that Wesley was looking for Yugoslav Danovich, the murderer of his father, in this bar. Seeing Wesley until the morning they did not work. In the morning, Rudolph called the antibiotic lawyer, whom the consul recommended to him.
Wesley lay on the folding bunk in the cell and recalled long conversations with his father during night shifts. He wanted to know as much as possible about his father’s past, and Tom did not hide anything from his son, in the hope that his son would learn a lesson from his stories.
Rudolph again went to the consulate, twice went to the Grasse prison where Wesley was transferred, went to the lawyer three times and called his lawyer Johnny Heath to New York more than once. In the end, the court ordered Wesley deported from the country.
After a while, Rudolph had a serious conversation with Gene. She was sober that day.Gene informed Rudolph that she had decided to divorce him for the sake of Enid. She realized that she would never be cured of alcoholism, and did not want to spoil the life of her husband and daughter anymore. Gene planned to transfer her capital to the name of Enid, hire a reliable companion, settle somewhere in a quiet place and from time to time visit her daughter, who will live with her father. Rudolph had no choice but to agree. It was the last evening they spent together.
The Jordahs were about to leave. Baggage had already been loaded into the limousine when a car drove up to the hotel door. Two crawled out of it: a small, plump and messy woman and an equally small and plump man. The woman turned out to be Theresa, Wesley's mother. She saw a note in Time magazine written by Alexander Hubbel, and rushed to Antibes, sensing she was alive. After the divorce, she married Edward Kreiler. He was a Mormon, and Teresa intended to introduce her son into the bosom of the church, and at the same time to appropriate his share of the inheritance. She tried to forget that when divorcing Tom, she signed a document depriving her of her rights to her son. Rudolph informed her that by the decision of the court, the widow of Tom would dispose of the inheritance, and left. He was shaking with anger, which mixed with a feeling of complete hopelessness and anxiety for Wesley. Pulling the boy out of his mother’s embrace was almost impossible.
After the family left, Rudolph moved to another hotel to be closer to Jeanne. By this time, Kate had already left for England, and Dwyer still lived on the yacht, preparing it for sale. Wesley was not so bad in prison. One of the guards even managed to steal a photograph of Danovich from the police archives. Now, if Wesley meets this bastard, he will certainly recognize him. A week later, a policeman brought Wesley to the airport, where Dwyer, Rudolph and the Crailers were waiting for him. Dwyer brought Wesley his things, including photographs of his father. Seeing his mother and stepfather, Wesley regretted that he did not run along the road. When the plane took off, Wesley took out photographs from an envelope and began to examine them. Seeing this, Teresa grabbed the photographs from her son's hands and tore. Wesley did not want to quarrel with her, and only watched the shreds fall to the floor.
Part two
Billy Abbott stepped hand in hand with Monica from a restaurant in downtown Brussels. He served well at NATO. The colonel loved tennis, and he needed just such a partner as Billy, so now Billy was no longer a corporal, but a senior sergeant and in charge of the garage, which gave him a considerable increase in his sergeant's salary. The Colonel often invited Billy to dinner, and the Colonel's wife found him charming. Billy knew that it was Rudolph who saved him from participating in the war, and was about to show his gratitude to him someday. Now in Billy’s pocket was a letter from an uncle with a check for a thousand dollars. It was Monica who made him ask for money from a rich uncle.
Billy did not know anything about Monica's family. She often went to some mysterious meetings, but the rest of the time she was accommodating and accommodating. Monica was dark-haired, always disheveled, as if deliberately trying to look worse, but when she smiled, her big blue eyes lit up her whole face. For Billy, her short stature was of great importance, because with his height of 168 centimeters and a fragile physique, tall women caused him an inferiority complex.
Today, Monica had one of her mysterious meetings. She got in a taxi and drove away, Billy again could not hear what address she gave to the driver. Shrugging his shoulders, he headed to the cafe, ordered a beer and began to read Rudolph's letter. It was felt that he was very lonely and did not know what to do. Gretchen's letters were harsh and instructive. She never forgave her son that he joined the army, but Billy could not forgive her mother for her love affairs.
In the morning, Billy found out why Monica needed money.When she arrived home at dawn, she woke Billy and explained that the sergeant would go to the money from the ammunition depot so that he could let the people she was connected with in the army truck that Billy would give from his garage. Billy himself will not participate in this matter. He only needs to get the truck out of the garage and hand it over to a man in the form of a lieutenant in the US military police. In the same steady tone, Monica informed Billy that she had chosen him as her lover because of her position as the head of the garage, although she had since become very attached to him. Billy realized that Monica was a terrorist organization. He did not show that he was afraid. He began to shiver, but even trembling, he felt an extraordinary rise. For the first time he did not back down, although it was about his life. Until now, he did not want to remake the world at all, and was pleased that he had taken a warm corner in it. Now he was dragged into something, and he will have to react to it. Billy realized that his life had changed radically.
The first half of the day passed in a fog. Billy wanted to call the colonel and tell him everything, fly a night plane to New York, go to the CIA and put Monica in jail, but he didn’t do anything. He did not want to part with Monica, because he loved her. When Billy met with Monica during dinner, she said that she was not going to move away from him, because she did not mix politics and sex. Billy could not resist.
Wesley came to the office of Time magazine’s editor-in-chief to speak with a journalist who wrote an article about Tom’s murder. The editor sent Wesley to Miss Larkin, who was collecting material for the article. She was a short, young woman with glasses, unfashionably dressed, but pretty. She was romantic, was fond of poetry. She found Billy very beautiful. She gave Wesley a folder with archival materials, and even allowed her to take a photograph of her father from memory. Then she invited Wesley to the bar and was terribly embarrassed to learn that he was not yet eighteen. Miss Larkin was writing a novel, but now she thought of her work with contempt. She wanted to write a novel about Wesley. Upon returning home, Miss Larkin threw sixty pages of her novel into the fire.
After a visit to the publishing house, Wesley headed to Rudolph. Rudolph divorced his wife and now lived with his daughter and nanny. He was very happy to see Wesley on the threshold. Rudolph often wrote to his nephew, but now it turned out that he did not receive any letters: Theresa intercepted them. They agreed that Rudolph would write to his nephew on demand. Wesley came to New York to learn as much as possible about his father's past. He wanted to know the truth and decided to start with his closest relatives. In the evening, Rudolph, Gretchen and Wesley went to dinner at a restaurant. It was an evening of memories. Rudolph and Gretchen told the nephew the whole truth about his difficult childhood. Rudolph promised to provide Wesley with a list of people who knew Thomas Jordah. Wesley refused to stay with his uncle for the night.
The next day, Rudolph went with his family of hits to visit Gene. After the divorce, Jean bought a house on Cape Montauk, lived there with her companion, a burly masseuse, and took up photography again. Rudolph was alone. He had parted with Jeanne for a long time, and now was afraid to be alone with Jean. He was afraid that the evening spent with her would make him want to return to the family hearth. That is why he took the Hits with him. On the way, Johnny Heat persuaded Rudolph to go with him to Nevada and buy a ranch for sale.
Gretchen usually liked to work in the editing room on Saturdays, when only she and her assistant Ida Cohen remained in the uninhabited building. But today she did not work. Evans Kinsella again took off haphazardly, and editing the film was hard. But Gretchen was not only concerned about this. A few days ago, Kinsella let her read the script of a young, unknown author. Gretchen was completely delighted with him, but Kinsella refused to make a film about him.Gretchen decided to tell Kinsella everything she thinks about him and break off relations with him. Ida persuaded her to complete the installation of the Kinsella film, and then herself to take on the production of this script. Gretchen decided to ask Rudolph for money.
Rudolph had a great weekend. Gene had a healthy and vigorous appearance. She again looked like the woman he loved so much. Rudolph began to be inclined to think that Enid is better to live with his mother. They returned to New York late in the evening. With a suitcase in his hands, Rudolph climbed the steps to the front door. She was again unlocked. In the darkened lobby, a male voice ordered him to remain silent and not twitch. Two well-dressed strangers, threatening with a pistol, forced Rudolph to climb into his apartment. Rudolph had no cash, and this made them very angry. They beat Rudolph and defeated the apartment. Having come to his senses for a while, Rudolph managed to crawl to the telephone and call Gretchen for help. Then he again lost consciousness. Rudolph spent two weeks in the hospital and never went to Nevada with Johnny Heath.
Part three
Wesley brought Mrs. Wurham to the groceries she had ordered at the supermarket, and she invited him for a cup of coffee. Then she invited him to bed. Not only coffee was banned at the Krailers house, so Wesley accepted both invitations. This was the tenth order he took to Mrs. Warefem. Wesley felt that the moment had come when things should go differently. Somewhere outside Indianapolis there should be a girl to love. In the meantime, he will just wait.
In the mail Wesley was waiting for two letters - from Rudolph and from Rabbit. Now he regularly received letters. The rabbit reported that the "Clotilde" was sold for one hundred and ten thousand dollars. Prior to that, the owner of the yacht was Rudolph. No one paid a good price for a yacht, and so Rudolph bought it himself. Now he resold the Clotilde to a German family. The rabbit did not stay on the Clotilde, although he was persuaded, and got on the Dolores yacht. Kate worked as a barmaid in her hometown. She had a son, whom she named Tom, in honor of her father. Wesley had already asked Rabbit twice if he had heard anything about Danovich, but Rabbit had never written about him.
In a letter to Rudolph lay two pieces of paper for twenty dollars. Wesley never asked for money, but was glad when they came. Rudolph wrote that he moved to live in a new place, away from New York. He has fully recovered after two plastic surgeries. He did not want to do a third operation to fix a broken nose. Gretchen has acquired the rights to the script and is going to put on the film. She believes that Wesley can play one of the roles in her picture. In this letter, Rudolph sent Wesley a list of people who ever knew Tom.
Both letters were given to Wesley by Jimmy, a black guy who worked with him on a grocery delivery. Jimmy was Wesley's only friend. Wesley could not keep letters at home: his mother searched his room twice a week. She did not give up trying to draw Wesley into the bosom of the church, and the stormy manifestations of maternal love made Wesley embarrassed. After lunch, Wesley asked Jimmy to deliver her purchases to Mrs. Wurham from tomorrow.
Wesley did not want to go home. The situation there was depressing, because the son of Mr. Kreiler Max died in Vietnam. The zinc coffin should have been brought from day to day. Wesley was increasingly thinking of running away, but he wanted to give his mother another chance.
Max's body was accompanied by Corporal Healy. Wesley had to sleep with him on the same bed because Mr. Kreiler's married daughter, Doris, stayed in the guest room. In the evening, Doris came to their room. She was wearing a nightgown through which the body shone through. In the afternoon, Doris winked at Healy, and now Wesley was about to leave them alone. Suddenly the door swung open. On the threshold with a stone face stood his mother. Theresa threatened Wesley to tell Mr. Crailer everything, and he would execute him.Wesley said he would kill Mr. Crailer if he touched him. Then Teresa drove Wesley out of the house, shouting at the same time that he would not get his share of the inheritance - she was not going to give a fortune to the hands of the finished killer. Wesley packed his things and left Mr. Crailer’s house that evening.
In Chicago, Wesley planted a truck driver. Looking at his list, Wesley saw the address of William Abbott and decided to start his investigation with him. Abbot did not make a favorable impression on Wesley, and he tried to leave as soon as possible. From Chicago, Wesley called Rudolph. He told his nephew that an arrest warrant had been issued in Indianapolis. Teresa said that leaving Wesley’s house, he stole $ 150 from a jug above the stove, and Wesley wasn’t allowed to come to Rudolph now. Wesley immediately realized that Healy took the money. He remembered the girl from the editorial office of Time magazine, who had helped him so much, and decided to go to New York.
After a phone call from Chicago, Wesley did not talk with his uncle for about two months. Arriving in New York, he immediately went to Alice Larkin. She was clearly delighted with him. Wesley told her about his goal: to understand how people whom he knew saw Tom. Alice wanted to help him. She settled Wesley in her small apartment and bought him new clothes. Alice admitted to Wesley that she wanted to write a novel about him. Wesley wrote down the amounts spent on him in a notebook, planning to repay the debt after his majority.
Wesley decided to start with Fort Philip, where the story of the Jordahs began. Through her magazine, Alice found out that Theodore Boylan is still alive and still lives on his estate. Wort in the possession of Boylan were broken, the road in potholes, lawns overgrown with tall grass. Wesley's house seemed like a prison to Wesley. Theodore Boylan himself was an old man with a sharp nose and muddy eyes. He scornfully spoke of Tom as a killer and arsonist. Leaving the room, Wesley thought that his father should have set fire to not only the cross, but all this damned place.
The next was Dominic Joseph Agostino, a former coach of the sports club Tom worked for. Ellis found out that he was still working at the same club as a doorman. Looking at him, Wesley could not imagine that this man was once young. Agostino was still grateful to Tom for having once avenged the offspring of the old Boston family. In parting, he said to Wesley: “Many should have been killed before the turn came to your father.” Wesley returned to New York in a completely different mood than after Fort Philip.
While Wesley was away, Ellis spotted Clotilde. A few years ago in Elysium, a high-profile divorce proceedings of Harold Jordah took place. His wife found him in bed with a maid and took away half his fortune from him. Clotilda was a servant. Now she owned a laundry room in Elysium.
At first, Wesley planned to see Harold Jordah, but he did not want to deal with Tom's son. Then Wesley went to the laundry room to meet the woman his father loved so much. Clotilde was short, stocky, aging woman. She was glad to see Wesley. Although Clotilde had another man, she still lived with memories of Tom. “Your father was the most gentle man, a woman can only dream of in her wanderings on this earth,” she said to Wesley in farewell.
Old man Schultz, former manager of Tom, lived in a nursing home in the Bronx. He still could not forgive Tom for ruining his only chance to get the champion. Schultz believed that Tom was killed by women. Wesley was tired of the fact that his father was constantly being muddled, and was thinking about quitting this venture. Ellis began to dissuade Wesley, and he shouted at her. Alice burst into tears, Wesley hugged her to comfort, and kissed.
Calvin Renway differed from Rabbit Dwyer only in skin color. He accepted Wesley as a prince, and was very upset to learn that Tom was dead.He was the only person who was able to protect the black sailor from Falconetti. It was the happiest moment in Renway's life. “If you become at least half what your father was, you will have to thank God every day,” he said to Wesley. In parting, Renway gave him a small, leather-covered box with golden embossing - the most expensive thing he had, and treated him to the best lunch in Harlem. Going down to the subway, Wesley threw out his list. After such words about his father, it makes no sense to meet someone else, he thought and felt relieved, as if a stone had fallen from his soul.
Rudolph rented a house on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Helen Morison spent several days a week with him. She was divorced and once at a party at the neighbors she went up to Rudolph herself. Helene was a tall, slender woman with a well-defined face and dark reddish-brown hair. She was actively involved in the affairs of the Democratic Party and was one of those women who could be relied on more than men.
Now Rudolph was thinking about the film that Gretchen was about to stage. He was not sure that his sister had enough abilities to make a picture. And yet Rudolph agreed to take on a third of the costs, he enjoyed it. The film was decided to shoot in Port Philip, the hometown of the Jordaids. Rudolph and Helene had lunch when the doorbell rang. Wesley stood on the threshold, neatly dressed and combed.
Billy became a Member of the terrorist organization Monica was a member of. From individual words in the conversation, Billy concluded that similar groups exist in other cities in Europe, but he did not know the details. Billy was indignant that he was treated as an outsider, although he had twice participated in their affairs. Billy was ironic about the contempt of his comrades in arms, who considered him the colonel's favorite. He knew that ultimately they would put a weapon in his hands and order them to kill, and he would kill. Billy felt like fate, a man who means something. He was going to remain in the army for a second term, which Gretchen was very disappointed with.
Returning home late at night, Billy met a man at the entrance to his house in whom he recognized his father. Abbot Sr. found out that his son intended to remain in the army, and came to dissuade him. He invited Billy to move to Chicago and start an advertising business. Abbot's efforts were unsuccessful.
In the morning, Monica appeared and brought a package, which Billy was supposed to deliver to Gros-Kayu street in the Seventh arrondissement of Paris. The package contained ten thousand French francs and an American automatic pistol with a silencer. He came to the place too early. When there were about thirty meters to the desired street, a police car flashed in front of him and stopped, blocking the entrance to Gro-Kaya. Five police officers jumped out with guns in their hands. Billy heard screams, shots rang out. He turned back, forcing himself to walk slowly. On the corner of the street, Billy saw a bank and entered it. There he rented a safe, in which he put money and a gun. Billy spent the rest of the day in the hotel room, trying to get through to Monica. No one answered in Brussels. In the morning newspapers, Billy read that an unknown person suspected of drug trafficking had been killed in the Seventh arrondissement. Returning to Brussels two days later, Billy discovered that the apartment was empty. Everything that belonged to Monica disappeared, no note was left. After these events, Billy decided not to remain in the army.
Helen liked Wesley - she was not at all like Jean. Bathing in the ocean after dinner, Wesley imagined that Ellis was next to him. After that single kiss, some kind of tension that arose between them changed their relationship for the worse. Wesley was thinking about Alice with a desire that he would not dare admit to anyone.
Rudolph told his nephew about Gretchen's intention to shoot him in his film and said that he had settled the conflict with Theresa. Wesley said he wants to go back to Europe, visit Kate and Rabbit, meet Billy Abbott. Rudolph suggested that Wesley stay with him, graduate from high school and enroll in a school of the merchant navy - so he could avoid being sent to war with Vietnam. Wesley agreed.
After leaving the army, Billy went to a place called El Faro near Marbella in Spain. He was offered to work there for a year as a tennis coach. Before leaving, Billy received a letter from Monica - she did not want to lose sight of it. Billy tore the letter into small pieces and lowered it into the toilet. He did not leave a new address. In France, Billy bought a new car. He could afford it - a small inheritance awaits him in a Paris bank.
Wesley agreed to star in the Gretchen movie. He was captured by the process of shooting the picture, every morning he joyfully rushed to the set. His partner was Francis Miller. She was distinguished by a peculiar beauty, loved to drink, but even more liked to sleep with Wesley. Francis was married to a young actor and lived permanently in California. At the beginning of the novel, Wesley was a little uneasy, he believed that he was in love with Ellis, although there was still nothing between them. Gretchen warned her nephew not to take this novel seriously. No one knew that Gretchen was Wesley’s aunt, and his uncle was financing the picture. Wesley took a pseudonym under which Tom performed in the ring. Everyone knew him as Wesley Jordan.
On the set, Rudolph met David Donnelly. He was an architect, but now began to work as a decorator. Donnelly shared with Rudolph his plan - to build a residential complex for the elderly, where they could live an active and fulfilling life. Donnelly already had in mind a suitable plot of land near New York. Rudolph liked this idea, and he wanted to invest money in it. Late at night, a drunk and happy Donnelly appeared to Gretchen and confessed her love.
Billy liked this quiet Spanish town. He seemed to have returned home after a long journey. Billy lived quietly, trying not to have an affair with his clients, and even began to write in his diary again. But a quiet life did not last long: soon Monika appeared in the town, accompanied by an elderly German businessman. She pretended not to know Billy.
At the traditional party in honor of the end of the shooting, Francis's husband arrived. Wesley witnessed an unpleasant scene between them. Alice was also present at this party and kept aloof. Rudolph was late for the start, he settled the problems that arose in connection with the Donnelly project. Wesley gave up on Francis. Returning home, he made peace with Alice. They spent this night together.
Monica still did not show that she knew Billy. At the hotel, she was registered under the name Monica Hitzman. Every day, Billy felt more and more uncomfortable. In addition, a Spaniard named Carmen, the daughter of an influential and wealthy father, began to lap over Billy.
After filming, Wesley went to Bath to visit Kate and his younger brother Tom. Then he went to Billy. I liked Abbott's cousin; he got Wesley to work at a hotel, to clean the pools. Billy told Wesley that they wanted to send a picture of Gretchen to the festival in Cannes. He decided to take a short vacation, and go there by car. Wesley agreed to join him. In the end, Monica broke the silence. She became interested in Wesley, but Billy did not want him to contact Monica.
Two weeks later, Billy accidentally hit a tennis ball in Carmen’s eye. The wound was serious. The next day, Billy was fired. Now nothing prevented the brothers from going to Cannes. On the way, Wesley admitted to Billy that he intended to find and kill Yugoslav Danovich. Billy could not let him do this.To stretch his time, he promised Wesley to get a gun with a silencer. Arriving in Paris, Billy called Rudolph and talked about a new problem. Rudolph urgently flew to France. Wesley, meanwhile, was looking forward to Billy in Saint-Tropez.
Rudolph went to Antibes to the very lawyer who helped him a few years ago. He decided to get ahead of Wesley and, with the help of a lawyer, order the murder of Danovich. Billy had to go to Wesley and hold him back for two weeks, but Wesley was too impatient.
In Cannes, Billy met his mother and discovered that she had a new lover - Donnelly. Everyone was looking for Wesley, but he was nowhere to be found. One evening, Monica appeared in Billy's room. Between them again a love affair arose. Some time later, Monica gave Billy an assignment: he was supposed to carry a bomb disguised as a movie camera at the evening screening of the Gretchen film. The daytime display of the painting was an incredible success. Near the cinema, Billy met Wesley - he also came to see the film. Billy had to admit to his cousin that Rudolph was aware of his plans. Billy decided that he could not do this with his mother, and reported the bomb to the police. The next morning, Billy read in a newspaper that a man had been arrested who was supposed to give him the bomb. The next day, someone blew up Billy's car.
Part four
1972 year. Billy moved to Chicago and worked for a newspaper in the city news department. He led a secluded life, because he was afraid that the terrorist group Monica would find him. Billy's colleague, Roda Flynn, often invited him to parties, but he refused all the time. Despite this, Billy was aware of all family events.
Rudolph, along with Helen Morison, began to engage in the affairs of the Democratic Party and now plied between America and Europe. Wesley worked as a sailor on a yacht in the Mediterranean. He never abandoned his intention to avenge his father, and was still looking for Danovich. Alice moved to the Paris Times bureau to see Wesley more often. Soon, in one of Rudolph’s letters, Billy found a note cut from a Marseille newspaper. It said that the body of a citizen of Yugoslavia, Janos Danovich, was found in the port. On the top of the sheet was the date: Saturday, October 24, 1970. When Wesley went to Europe, Danovich was already half a year dead.
The news stunned Billy. He realized that he was tired of being afraid. Billy called Rode, got in a taxi and went to a party.
