The Assistant Chapter 9, Section 1 Summary

  • Desperate for a drink, Ward knocks on Frank's door, only to find out that he's moved.
  • Ward next tries to beg Louis Karp to trust him for a fifth of something cheap.
  • Karp refuses, and Ward grabs a bottle of wine and throws it at Louis.
  • The bottle smashes other bottles on display.
  • Grabbing a bottle of whiskey, Ward flees.
  • He drops the bottle and it shatters.
  • Detective Minogue finds Ward in a bar and chases him.
  • Upon catching his son, he beats him until Ward collapses.
  • The father tells his son that if he returns to the neighborhood, he'll murder him.
  • Ward tries to break into the Karp liquor store.
  • He samples several drinks, opens the cash register, sees it's empty, and throws up.
  • Then he destroys a shelf of bottles.
  • He tries to light a cigarette but burns his face. He throws the match, catching the store on fire. He tries to escape out the window, but can't make it.
  • Exhausted, he dies.
  • A neighbor, Mike Papadopolous, sounds the alarm. He gets his family up, then wakes up the Bobers.
  • Despite the work of firemen, the Karps' store is reduced to a shell.
  • The Karps arrive, father and son. Julius, seeing his store, faints. His son drives him home.
  • Morris feels rotten. He wished this fate on Karp.