Valentine

As the summer passes, D.A. begins to spend more time with her new friend, Jesse Belden, at his makeshift home in the drainpipe. The two exchange stories. His are about growing up in Tennessee, his stint in Vietnam, and how he came to be in Odessa. Hoping to find employment in the oil fields, he came to Odessa in his new pickup truck to stay with his cousins. Initially, he found work but working in the oil field was dangerous with impaired hearing. When he was let go, his cousins, fearing Jesse could no longer pay room and board, confiscated his pickup truck and dumped him unceremoniously in Odessa. To make matters worse, Jesse, while working his shift at the strip club, got word that his cousins had moved to Penwell, about 15 miles away: “Come get your truck when you can,” the note said.

D.A. is determined to help her new friend get his truck and go back home. She offers to steal Mrs. Shepard’s (Corrine’s) old pickup truck from her garage, that she was tall enough to drive it back to town: “It’s not stealing if you bring it back” (205). As Jesse mulls over his limited options, D.