Part I: Fourth of July

I have finished Part 1 of the novel, and so far there are lots of unanswered questions. For one, Claude and his family haven’t been mentioned since the beach trip. Also, Fathers Michaels hasn’t been mentioned. Ned tells Sam about Jenny’s problems, which encourages Sam to ask Ned to live with him. Ned agrees, and they pack his stuff from Jenny’s and take it to Sam’s. Upon arriving at Sam’s, Ned promptly earns a job from one of Sam’s neighbors who owns a beauty parlor. Many of Sam’s deadbeat friends are mentioned, and Ned considers them as some more dads. Sam and Ned eat out for every meal. Also, Eileen, who is assumed to be Sam’s girlfriend, and her son are introduced. Ned is making a large amount of money at his job, but his morals have significantly declined. This is seen when Ned continuously steals from the department store underneath Sam’s apartment. Things take a turn for the worse, yet again, when Jenny is hospitalized due to a nervous breakdown. Part 1 ends with Ned stealing the most expensive things he could from the department store and putting them in Jenny’s house.