Chapter 7
Chapter 7 (Past 1982)
- 16-year-old Larry tells his parents about his date with Cindy Walker
- flashback: it was Cindy who had asked him out
- days between her invitation and the actual date: Larry is both excited and nervous, makes friends with guys at school who used to bully him (are impressed about his date)
- Larry is assaulted by Cecil when he picks up Cindy
- Cindy insists on driving Larry‘s mother‘s car, is speeding and deliberately runs over a snake, takes them to a deserted roadway
- Cindy tells Larry that she only wanted the date as a cover for a visit to her boyfriend
- confesses that she is pregnant
- Larry is disappointed yet follows her plan, drops her off at a nearby road and agreeing to picking her up later
- shows up at the movie drive-in as planned, makes it look as though she‘s with him in the front seat and disappearing when one of the guys from school starts to head in his direction
- Cindy doesn‘t show up at the time planned
- Larry waits for an hour but still no sign of her
- goes to her home to tell Cecil and Cindy‘s mom that she is missing
- they call Larry‘s parents and the police, Larry has to tell them everything
- omits the fact that Cindy was pregnant and that he only pretended to be at the drive-in
- Larry is forced to tell the whole truth when Cindy still hasn‘t returned after a few days have passed
- people don‘t believe him but there is no evidence so Larry does not get arrested
- Carl‘s business suffers from what his son did in the eyes of community, becomes an alcoholic and breaks his neck in an accident
- Ina in turn gets more absent-minded and sad, Cindy‘s parents move away
- Larry joins the army, is trained as a mechanic there and eventually discharged
- returns to Chabot to take care of his mother who has surrendered to Alzheimer and who eventually moves into a nursing home
- Silas instead has left to attend high school someplace else
- Larry becomes more and more isolated over the years
- "Nights he spent alone, seldom thinking of his mother’s old prayer, the one where she asked God to send him a special friend. Until it was answered." (p. 159)
- most important layer of truth is revealed to date about what happened to Cindy Walker
- offers details as to why Larry was and still is the prime suspect in her disappearance
- functions as foreshadowing: there is a deeper truth about what happened that night, a truth hinted at here (reference to Cecil)
- theme of layers of truth is developed by Larry‘s encounters with the police after Cindy‘s disappearance
- layers of Larry‘s truth are mercilessly unfolded until a truth that no one wants to believe is revealed (ironical: truth is not necessarily something that people want to hear)
- development in Larry‘s character and story: portrait of loneliness and simultaneous desperation to please
- reference to snakes (deliberately destroyed by Cindy)
- summary of Larry‘s life as it is after Cindy‘s disappearance
- elements: reference to Ina‘s prayer for Larry being answered