Chapter 17 Summary

Juan begins to put all his attention into how to deliver the required amount of whiskey. A house is rented after some difficulty as he is Mexican, but he finally secures one in a decent neighborhood and moves his assistant, Julio, and his family in so they look respectable, even though they are going to use the whole house to make whiskey.

That night he learns that his nephews took the pants off their teacher and pushed him out the schoolhouse window. The next morning Juan gets Pedro and Jose up early and decides to teach them a lesson. He works them hard all day shoveling chicken shit and moving large oak barrels in his truck. Then he hands Pedro his pistol and tells him to shoot the windshield. Pedro does this immediately and the flying glass and sudden explosion causes Juan to...