Chapter 5 Summary

Unable to fall sleep, Christmas lies awake in his bed in the cabin. Brown stumbles in, drunk and singing. Christmas quietly tells him to shut up, and Brown immediately stops singing. Then, Brown trips, falls to the floor and begins laughing loudly and drunkenly. Christmas beats Brown as he covers Brown's mouth and nose to prevent him from breathing. When Christmas releases him, Brown calls him a nigger. Christmas covers Brown's face again, allowing him to breathe just a little while Christmas considers how easy it would be to grab his razor and kill Brown. A voice in Christmas' head whispers that Brown is not the person he wishes to kill. Christmas releases the now snoring Brown and returns to his bed to smoke a cigarette and contemplate matters.

Christmas feels like something is going to happen to him; he is going to...