Chapter 9

Chapter 9 (Past)

due to her disease, Ina hadn‘t noticed things disappearing from the barn, or the traces of someone being there
Larry did notice, but never told his mother
Larry discovered that the intruder was a young, skinny, blond boy whom Larry scared away one day wearing the zombie mask
years later, a young man - Wallace Stringfellow - came to visit Larry, Larry recognizes him as the intruder
Wallace claims to be a cable TV salesman, but Larry soon figures out that he’s not
Wallace keeps visiting, and confesses that he is not a TV salesman, was just curious to meet Larry due to his reputation, didn‘t matter to him whether Larry had killed Cindy or not
Wallace does eventually confess to imagining what raping and killing her must have been like (p. 203)
over the next months, Wallace keeps coming to Larry‘s house, smokes marijuana (that he buys from M&M), throws the marijuana butts in Larry‘s yard
reveals that he has a dog named John Wayne Gacy
gives Larry a gun for Christmas
admits that he was freightened of Larry on his very first visit years ago and that he is actually sexually excited by the thought of Larry killing Cindy
one night, after Wallace had drunk and smoked a lot, Wallace pushes Larry to tell him the truth about what happened to Cindy, claiming that sometimes women wanted to be raped and hurt
Larry doesn‘t give in to Wallace, Wallace throws a tantrum, breaks Larry‘s windshield and headlights and storms off
after Wallace is gone, Larry realizes that he thought of Wallace as a friend, the "special" friend that his mother had always prayed for

Function

references to several objects that were previously mentioned in the novel answer important questions about where they came from and/or how they came to be at Larry’s place
$\rightarrow$ develop and deepen mystery plot
reapparance of zombie mask: evocative of a kind of power and respect that Larry doesn’t usually get
name of Stringfellow‘s dog: John Wayne Gacy was a real-life serial rapist and killer of young men who was eventually executed for his crimes
the fact that Stringfellow has named his dog like that says a great deal about himself
the fact that Larry considers Wallace a friend raises questions in Larry‘s choice of friends
$\rightarrow$ ostracized by the people of his home town for years, Larry was desperate to be friends with anybody
$\rightarrow$ lends irony to Larry’s realization about his "friendship" with Wallace and to the hopes of his mother