Summary
At the fourth floor, Will’s father Mikey steps on, “clear as day.” Will and he hug, sharing a “lifetime’s worth of squeeze.” Mikey shakes his brother Mark’s hand and yanks him in for a half-hug. Will comments that he has no memories of his father. Will’s mother always said Mikey died of a broken heart. Shawn always said their father was killed for killing the man who killed their uncle.
Will explains that someone walked up to their father at a pay phone, asked if he knew someone who went by Gee, then shot him in the head. Shawn learned these details from Buck, because it happened on Buck’s corner when Buck was sixteen. Shawn was seven, and he started looking out for him.
Mikey’s voice is brand-new sounding to Will. He wants to tell him everything about Shawn’s death, and The Rules. But he holds back because the others are watching in the elevator. His father says he already knows; there is sadness and love in his voice. Will replies, choking up, that he doesn’t know what to do. He wipes his tears and reminds himself of the rule: no crying. His father asks what he thinks he should do. Will says, “Follow The Rules. Just like you did.”
Mikey tells the story of what led to him getting killed. When Mark was shot, he was shattered. He couldn’t be a father and husband when he couldn’t be a brother anymore. He knew who killed Mark, but he didn’t snitch. He knew The Rules, passed on to him by Mark, who learned them from their father. With his hood up, Mikey went to the corner where Mark sold crack. He waited for the guy to take the corner, then shot him four times. He took off running, threw away the gun, and at home got in a shower hot enough to burn his skin. He couldn’t kiss his wife or kids goodnight. He just lay in the porcelain tub.
Will says he was following The Rules, doing what he had to do. Mikey and Mark look at him with eyes full of guilt and grief. Mikey admits he killed the wrong guy. Gee didn’t kill Mark. He was a young kid trying to be tough—a flunky for the guy who killed Mark. Will leans back, confused to learn that the man he always missed was far more careless than he could have guessed.
His father steps forward and Will meets him for another hug. Just then he pulls the gun from Will’s waistband and holds it to Will’s head. A tear runs down his father’s face. Will thinks about how the hug was real, the gun is real, and there are fifteen real bullets loaded. His stomach aches and he feels like he is splitting apart.
A warm sensation runs down his leg into his sneaker—he can smell his own urine. Then his father uncocks the gun, wraps his arms around Will, and hugs him while stuffing the gun back into his waistband. Will screams, and pushes him away. His father leans against the wall with a cocky look on his face. Buck gives him a cigarette, and when he lights it the elevator stops.
On the third floor, a chubby light-skinned stranger gets on the elevator like a normal guy. He doesn’t acknowledge anyone or the smoke. It is normal. Will figures he is real, and so is embarrassed about the pee. Yet he is happy he hasn’t lost his mind, or died. The man stares at his own reflection until Buck gets his attention. He knows him—the man’s name is Frick. They clap hands: Frick is surprised to see Buck. Buck introduces everyone else, including Will. Will asks how Buck knows him. Buck scoffs and shakes his head, answering, “This is the man who murdered me.”
Will is shocked. Buck confirms it, putting a hand on Frick’s shoulder. Will says Shawn never really told him the story of how Buck was killed. Buck explains that he and Shawn were sharing a bottle of liquor on the corner when Shawn told him about one of the Dark Suns members “ran up on him talking all this shit.” It wasn’t serious, but Shawn was telling Buck he had grown up with the kid. Will assumes it must be Riggs. Buck told Shawn to let it go, but Shawn was too emotional. Buck gave Shawn a chain he had robbed off someone recently; it was a gift because Shawn was so upset.
Analysis
With the introduction of Will’s father’s ghost, Reynolds touches again on the major themes of masculinity, mentorship, grief, gun violence, and revenge. Although he has no memories of his father, who died when Will was three, Will hugs him and feels an immediate connection. The hug shows Will put down his masculine front temporarily as he shares a vulnerable and emotional moment with his father.
As with the other ghosts, Will explains why he is setting out to kill a man. However, the tenderness in Will’s father’s voice weakens Will’s posturing defenses even more. He gets choked up, beginning to cry before he quickly suppresses his sorrow and insists upon sticking to The Rules. In an instance of situational irony, Mikey himself followed The Rules when his own brother died.
The themes of revenge and mentorship arise with Will’s explanation of how his father died. As it turns out, Will’s father was so overcome with grief that he sought to carry out Rule No. 3. In a plan that bears a striking resemblance to Will’s plan with Riggs, Mikey simply went out and shot the guy he believed took Mark’s corner. However, in rashness, Mikey made a mistake and took revenge against the wrong person. Like Dani, Gee was innocent.
The themes of gun violence and fear arise when Mikey suddenly puts Shawn’s gun to Will’s head. In contrast to the tender hug they shared, Mikey tests Will’s nerve with the violent gesture. The thought that he is about to die breaks Will’s feigned front of toughness; his terror becomes undeniable when he involuntarily wets his pants. The humiliating reaction betrays that despite the responsibility he has assumed for righting the wrong of his brother’s death, Will is still a child who doesn’t understand the seriousness of what he is preparing to do.
When an unfamiliar face joins Will and the ghosts in the elevator, he believes—to his relief—that he is in the company of a living person. However, Buck begins talking with the man, acting like they are old friends. But in an instance of situational irony, Will learns that he is meeting the man who killed Buck. Once again, Will is encountering someone who was caught up in the self-perpetuating cycle of gun violence.
