Jesus' Son

The narrator goes to visit a friend named Dundun at his farmhouse to purchase opium. When he arrives, Dundun greets him at the front yard and tells him that he just shot a man named McInnes. McInnes is still alive, and Dundun seems extremely unconcerned with his wellbeing. The narrator enters the farmhouse and encounters other drug users he knows, including Jack Hotel. They explain they tried to take McInnes to a hospital but crashed the car into a shed on the way out.

The narrator agrees to take McInnes to the hospital in his car. While the narrator is angry that he can’t purchase opium, he’s also “happy about this chance to be of use” (39). Dundun, McInnes, and the narrator head off through the fields of Iowa toward the hospital. On the way, Dundun makes McInnes promise him to tell the authorities that the shooting was an accident. However, McInnes dies shortly afterward. The narrator tells Dundun that he’s glad McInnes died, because he was the one who gave the narrator his nickname of F**khead.

The narrator considers the history of the land they’re driving over. Then, he tells a story of a time in the future in which Dundun tortured Jack Hotel to get information about an item that Dundun stole.