Deacon King Kong

The novel’s point-of-view moves back to the Cause and Sportcoat. The afternoon of the brawl and the second near-miss with Earl (of whom he remains oblivious), Sportcoat sits alone in the boiler room where Hot Sausage works and drinks the homemade alcohol he and Sausage call “King Kong.” The apparition of Hettie reappears. They argue about the church’s Christmas money, with Hettie hinting through the clue, “It’s in God’s hands” (160), that it might be in the church’s back wall that has the mural of Jesus. Perhaps because the words on the church mural have been painted over, Sportcoat doesn’t understand the reference. He also reveals later to Sausage that he doesn’t trust the apparition because it is more combative with him than Hettie ever was in her life, so he disregards what the vision “tells” him. Hettie disappears, and Sausage shows up.

As they converse about Hettie, Sausage is working on the building’s generators, which are wired in a strange way and keep going dead. They go dead while Sportcoat and Sausage are sitting there, and Sportcoat instructs Sausage to hit a switch that only he knows about. Sausage is worried about being shocked, but Sportcoat says everything is grounded—except for a couple of loose wires that aren’t anywhere near Sausage.