American Rust: A Novel

Isaac finds a Walmart, where he warms up and gets some food. He needs a refuge from the cold night, but a homeless shelter would be the first place the police would look for him. He then stocks up on provisions—warm clothes, food, soap and shampoo—and takes them into the dressing room where he removes his old filthy clothes, dons the new ones, and then layers the old ones on top. He tries to walk out the door, but an employee spots him, ordering him to pay. He ignores the call and makes a break for the door. He runs out of the store, through the parking lot, and into the neighboring woods.

As Henry contemplates getting into bed without Isaac’s help (he doesn’t want to ask Lee), he realizes his physical condition is deteriorating quickly. He can’t bathe himself and can barely undress. His organs slowly failing, he senses the end is near. He looks out the window at the “skeleton” of a house next door, stripped of its door, windows, and gutters as soon as the owner moved away. He thinks of Isaac—“[T]here’d always been something about the boy, he was smart and stupid at the same time” (285)—and realizes that he never appreciated his son or acknowledged his “genius.