American Rust: A Novel

Isaac wakes from a dream to find the Baron stealing his cash. He chases him past the trailer park and along a four-lane roadway. Although Isaac has his knife, he knows he won’t use it. A police officer sees the chase and pulls his car across traffic and up onto the curb ahead of them, yelling at them both to stop. The Baron stops, but Isaac hops a fence and keeps running.

Clovis escorts Poe out to the yard where Black Larry and Dwayne warn him that, without their protection, Poe is as good as dead. They retrieve Poe’s “charge sheet” (first-degree murder) and ask if he can “roll over” on anyone, but Poe claims he alone is responsible. They pass a bottle of pruno (prison wine) around, and Poe gets drunk and falls asleep in the yard. Dwayne wakes him up, and Black Larry asks for a “favor”: beat up a guard who’s cheated them out of provisions. Poe protests that it would damage his chances of acquittal, but Black Larry tells him that prison is his new home and they are his new family. Poe is noncommittal, but they threaten to lift their protection if he doesn’t comply. He finally agrees, and Dwayne gives him a sock full of batteries to do the job.

Isaac retreats into a stand of trees, trying to evade the police who saw him—a man armed with a knife chasing another man—and he decides the most prudent course of action is to leave the money and his backpack behind. He regrets the choices that have led him to this moment but tries to stay focused on getting away. Despite the swarm of police cars canvassing the area, Isaac stays calm and manages to walk away unnoticed. He catches a bus and rides it to the last stop, just trying to put distance between himself and the police. He gets off in an upscale neighborhood and walks aimlessly, trying to figure out where he is and where to go.

By evening, he is walking along a state highway, hungry and shivering (he ditched his coat earlier to avoid being spotted). He sees lights ahead and heads toward them, hoping to find shelter and food.

All of Buell knows about Poe now, and Grace tries to stay focused on work. At home, she thinks of her father, who left her mother when she couldn’t handle all the plant shutdowns and the boarded-up houses. She thinks of the men in her life and evaluates their trustworthiness, and she always circles back to Harris (despite the persistent rumors that he’s killed people in the past). The thought nags at her until she gets restless and has to get out of the house. She goes to a bar where the bartender, who’s lost a son of her own, commiserates. Soon, friends join her. They try to comfort her but are soon reduced to gossip and small talk. Grace, for her part, tries to put on a brave face.

Poe’s cellmate, who’s been in solitary confinement, returns, reiterating to Poe the importance of him following through on his promise. Later, Poe tries to sleep, pondering the complex web of alliances within the prison. If he goes through with the beating, he makes an enemy of the guards; if he doesn’t, he makes an enemy of everyone else. As he thinks of the events leading to this moment, he decides he is fated to be here. He gets out of bed to use the bathroom which leads to an argument with his cellmate, Tucker. It soon escalates into a brawl with Poe banging the smaller Tucker’s head against the floor. The guards burst in, pepper spray him, and lock him in solitary confinement.

Wanting to take it slow with Grace, Harris instead meets some friends for a drink after work. They discuss the local economy, and his friends ask about Grace. He tells them, “That fizzled out a long time ago” (275). The conversation turns to Poe and to the overall crime problem in the Valley. The word around town, they report, is that Harris should have let Poe be convicted for the beating incident a year ago rather than pulling strings for him. They worry about Harris’s reputation and his career.