Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Chapter 7 Summary

How It All Goes Down

We Are All Americans Here

  • Bravo meets Norm Oglesby, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
  • Billy and Mango are just trying not to lose it in front of all the wealthy people at the meet-and-greet…because they are stoned, man, and have the giggles something awful.
  • Norm makes a big deal out of the fact that Billy is a Texas boy.
  • Yet another meet-and-greet goes down. Lots of very rich people ask what it was like to meet President Dubya.
  • Billy is rescued from the well-intentioned crowds by a Cowboys executive who's packing heat—and that irks Billy somethin' awful.
  • But the exec is pretty nice. He gets Billy a spiked drink on the DL, and he gets on the mission to finally get the poor kid some Advil.
  • Billy watches Norm work the room, and he almost feels bad for the guy. He's just so…on.
  • At the same time, Billy begrudgingly respects the business genius. He asks the armed exec guy, Bill, how Norm does it, and Bill says he's just as much in awe of the owner as anyone else is. Apparently, Norm's a negotiating guru.
  • The two Bills talk business, and Billy feels honored to be having such an adult conversation.
  • Meanwhile, Dime karate-chops Billy's throat and titty-twists him, because it looks like he's "flaking."
  • Yet another Cowboys exec plops down a pile of TIME magazines—in which their story was featured—for the Bravos to sign.
  • Josh gathers the Bravos to finally give them the plan for the day. The guys are about to meet the Cowboys cheerleaders (yay), but there's no word on whether they'll meet Destiny's Child (boo).
  • Norm and his entourage lead the Bravos back through the stadium, complete with video crew. They enter a room full of members of the media, and Norm gives a speech about how proud he is of the Bravos.
  • Billy's too distracted by the half-naked cheerleaders to pay attention to Norm's patriotic speech.
  • One of the cheerleaders, a cute strawberry blonde, gets Billy's attention, and they eye-flirt pretty intensely.
  • When the media start their Q&A, Dime puts Billy on the spot about what happened during the infamous battle. Billy feels like there's no way to communicate what it was like, even if he could figure it out himself.
  • Billy thinks about Shroom.