Chapter 23 Summary

Kerouac's solitary bliss is short-lived, however, as the very next morning, Ron Blake arrives with Pat McLear and his wife and child. After only a short bit of long-awaited conversation with Pat, in barges Cody with Evelyn and their two children. Cody is overflowing with good news, having bought a Jeep and gotten a new job, and wants to stay and drink and celebrate, sharing pot and news with Kerouac, and whisking him away to town to pick up more booze for the night. Ron Blake, meanwhile, stays behind with Cody's blessing to have some time alone with Evelyn on the beach, and Kerouac closes the chapter with a bit of insight into his relationship with Evelyn.

The back story he tells is of how Cody and Jack had once all lived together, sharing Evelyn as a joint sort of wife while they...