Jesus' Son

“Out on Bail” demonstrates the theme of The Slipperiness of Time through the nonlinear structure of the story, as well as the blurring of reality and memory. Initially, the narrator believes that Jack Hotel is at the bar on a recess from his trial, but he is confused, likely from the lasting effects of Substance Use Disorder, and Hotel has been acquitted of the crime. This sort of unreliability regarding what is actually occurring is reflected throughout the story, including in the depictions of secondary characters. For instance, F**khead describes a former boxer named Kid Williams, who came straight to the bar from detox. Though F**khead clearly respects Williams, he also believes that the man had “wasted his whole life” (31). This moment helps the narrator realize that he was mistaken about what day it was when talking about Hotel—clear evidence of his addled nature due to substance use disorder.

In a moment of self-awareness and clarity, F**khead says, “There were many moments in The Vine like that one—where you might think today was yesterday, and yesterday was tomorrow, and so on. Because we all believed we were tragic, and we drank” (32). Hotel was given back his life due to the acquittal, whereas earlier in the story, he’d taken on a sort of tragic resonance for F**khead, because going to prison would have given Hotel’s life meaning and redirection. However, now that it turns out that he isn’t going to prison, he and F**khead go off to steal money together. As with Kid Williams—coming to a bar straight from detox—F**khead and Jack Hotel waste the chances they’ve been given intentionally, or as the result of substance use disorder, so it cannot be said that they are in control, but they are chasing the next high instead of starting over. However, Jack Hotel dies of an overdose that night, while F**khead lives. To F**khead’s mind, Hotel was given his life back just to lose it immediately, which reinforces the ongoing motif of hopelessness. Additionally, F**khead is revived by his girlfriend, offering him another chance at a life that continues to straddle death. The different endings for F**khead and Jack Hotel also signal the slipperiness of time; while the characters know that they risk their lives every day, time seems to escape them, whether it is an inability to pin down timelines or the literal loss of time through sudden death.