Stone Cold

Link reflects on the countless films he has watched that depict characters on the road easily finding casual work in the towns they pass through. He can’t believe that in a city as big as London, finding work might be impossible, but despite his efforts, he has been unsuccessful. One evening he returns to his room at eight o’ clock on a Friday night, and his landlord confronts him, demanding the rent. Link explains that he has already paid until Monday, but the landlord insists that rent is due on Friday. The landlord aggressively grabs him by the shirt, giving him five minutes to pack his things and leave. Desperate, Link tries to reason with him, but the landlord won’t listen. Link gathers his belongings, and the landlord threatens, “I’ll have you for this. Sooner or later, one way or another I’ll have you” (24). This, Link explains, is how he became unhoused.

Shelter begins “a brief discourse on the subject of killing. Killing humans” (25). He reflects on his military training, which centered on killing as his primary duty. Shelter explains that the action of a soldier killing the enemies of his country isn’t murder, so he wonders why, if he’s disposing of these “druggy dossers whose activities are dragging the country down” (25), he is a murderer.