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Deacon King Kong
Group Read - Deacon King Kong
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Group Read - Deacon King Kong ch 16-20 Spoilers Welcome
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Chapter 16 - May God Hold You …Two weeks after shooting Deems, Sportcoat is still alive and going to work for the old Italian widow who he calls Miss Four Pies because he can’t remember her actual name. They go out hunting for Pokeweed. While they do find the plants the lady is moving slowly and has Sportcoat come into her house to clean the plants while she goes upstairs to rest. After finishing Sportcoat is leaving when he runs into her son, The Elephant. Sportcoat is a bit uneasy but they soon find common ground and have a nice visit and Sportcoat wishes him that until they meet again that God will hold him in the palm of His hand. Elephante freezes and demands Sportcoat to explain the blessing. Sportcoat lets him know that the blessing is one his wife Hetty always used and is painted on the side of their church over a picture of Jesus. Elephante wants to know how long the picture has been there and Sportcoat is a bit vague but for quite a number of years since the church was built.
Chapter 17 - Harold
Sportcoat and Hot Sausage are in the basement drinking and going over Sportcoat’s encounter with the Elephant. The talk then turns to Deems and Sportcoat pressures Sausage into setting up a meeting for him since Sausage bet on Sportcoat’s life with the number runner. Sausage reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile Deems is sitting on the edge of the pier with a nice looking young lady who is new in town and hails from Atlanta. One of his crew, Beanie, is on watch since Deems knows that Bunch is after him. Hot Sausage rolls up in the umpire’s uniform and tries to get Deems to meet with him alone. Deems demurs and Sausage ends up telling him that Sister G told Sausage and Sportcoat that somebody bad is coming to get him. At that minute the girl pulls out a gun and shoots Beanie, Deems, and Sausage. Deems falls into harbor and nearly drowns. Luckily for Deems, Sportcoat saves him and then tells him that Haroldeen is a girl’s name.
Chapter 18 - Investigation
The next morning all the neighbors gather in Hot Sausage’s basement, as usual, for the cheese giveaway. Rumors are flying fast and furious and everyone thinks Deems shot and killed both Sausage and Sportcoat. A melee nearly breaks out but then the police, led by Sgt. Potts, show up. Potts and Sister Gee go outside to talk and she finds out that the police think they have Sportcoat at the hospital along with Deems and that Sausage drowned in the harbor. Sister Gee considers telling Potts about the shared driver’s license and phony names but decides to keep quiet. When the police leave Sister Gee lets the others know that Sausage is alive and the police hear the sound of laughter coming from the basement as they depart.
Chapter 19 - Double-Crossed
Elefante is at his dock unloading some goods when Joe Peck roars up in his GTO. Peck is agitated about the shooting and thinks Elefante had something to do with it. The Elephant explains that he did not even know about the shooting but Peck is doubtful since the shooter is the Elephant’s mother’s gardener. Elefante is incredulous and states the old man is a lush and could never shoot straight enough to hit anything. Peck lets Elefante know that Potts is back on the beat and the Elephant says he will talk to him and find out what happened.
Chapter 20 - Plant Man
Sportcoat is hiding out in Rufus’ basement when Hetty appears again. They go over many past incidents of their life and Hetty lets Sportcoat know that she would like to let him be but she can’t until Sportcoat is right. Rufus stops in and finds Sportcoat sitting with a bottle in his hand. Sportcoat asks about the church and where Sister Paul is and the next thing Rufus knows Sportcoat is out the door and gone.
The plot is really picking up the pace! The turn with the girl Deems has his eye on being Haroldeen the shooter was a twist!. Since I was listening to the audio I heard "Harold Deen" as the name so I was as befuddled as the characters to find out they were a woman.The characters are finally falling into place -- it took awhile for me.
Carol, Sandi's summaries are bringing the story back to me and I recall also finding the shooting at the pier a surprise. Sportcoat to the rescue! The name confusion is quite handy for Sausage and Sportcoat.The curiosity I had with how the two story lines would intersect (Elephante and Sportcoat) nicely starts to line up. The scenes in the various basements, Hetty visiting Sportcoat, and the cheese delivery continue the vivid depuction of these neighbors and colorful characters.
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "The plot is really picking up the pace! The turn with the girl Deems has his eye on being Haroldeen the shooter was a twist!. Since I was listening to the audio I heard "Harold Deen" as the name so..."
I too was surprised when the girl turned out to be the shooter. I was a bit worried about Hot Sausage but since he was wearing the umpire gear I was hopeful that he would survive.
Sportcoat saves Deems and manages to come away unscathed. I’m glad Hot Sausage will live to tell about it. I didn’t want to believe that Hetty tossed herself into the harbor. I love that she is Sportcoat’s conscience and stays with him.
Janice, agreed, Hetty's sticking around in Sportcoat's mind adds even more dimension to his character.
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