Summers at the Saint

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child death, anti-gay bias, death, and substance use.

At nine o’clock in the evening in the staff dorm, Garrett asks if anyone wants to party. Livvy and Felice are watching the news magazine show Dateline. Garrett gives KJ a stimulant drug, and Felice scolds him. Garrett wants to go out, and Parrish agrees to go with him. They go to Pour Willy’s, where the bouncer knows Garrett and the bartender doesn’t charge him for drinks. Parrish is unfamiliar with Pour Willy’s but is annoyed that Garrett treats her like a “snobby rich girl” (109). As they chat, Parrish tells Garrett that the hotel is in debt. They dance. Garrett, who has had too much to drink, stumbles and falls, pulling Parrish down with him. She is humiliated.

Parrish is angry as she leaves the bar. As they drive home, Garrett confesses: Traci has been good to him, so he feels guilty because he’s agreed to look the other way while some of the other workers at the Verandah sell off the hotel’s top-shelf liquor and replace it with cheaper versions. In return, Garrett gets free drinks and favors. Parrish tells him that this is stealing and that he’s an accessory to a crime.