Chapters 9-11 Summary

Dolores Engracia ("Sweets") Ramirez is normally hatchet-faced and lumpy, with a shrill voice, but several evenings a week can, through passion, appear attractive and inviting. She leans over her front gate, purring at passing men, but truly wants only Danny. She plans to invite him in for a glass of wine, and let nature takes its course. One day Danny finds a keg of shingle nails, sells them to a rival supply company, and heads to Torrelli's. Sweets hails him; they share a drink; he assaults her virtue, and agrees for the sake of the neighbors to come back in the evening. At Torrelli's, he buys a gallon of wine for Sweets and invites Pablo to drink a single glass and they drink half a gallon. Danny buys a shiny, large aluminum vacuum cleaner, which Sweets displays proudly, though she has...