Deacon King Kong: Chapter 17: Harold Summary & Analysis

Sportcoat and Hot Sausage talk about the best way to solve Sportcoat’s predicament with Deems. Sportcoat thinks that the best way to solve matters is to speak with Deems in private. He doesn’t think Deems will actually hurt him because he’s built up too much goodwill over the years as Deems’s baseball coach. Additionally, he thinks he can get Deems to give up drug dealing and to start playing baseball again instead. He wants Hot Sausage to help him arrange a private meeting, though Hot Sausage wants nothing to do with his plan. However, after discussing matters a bit more and downing a healthy amount of King Kong, Hot Sausage eventually decides to help Sportcoat.

In the meantime, Deems has other matters on his mind. He is less focused on Sportcoat and more focused on how to get rid of Bunch. He thinks that Bunch and his men are useless and wants to operate his branch of the drug trade without them. He considers the best way to present his argument to Joe Peck. Additionally, Deems thinks it likely that Lightbulb ratted on him. He is also worried about the new hitman that Bunch recruited, who might his gun on Deems after he is finished with Sportcoat.

In an attempt to get away from his hectic life, Deems goes on a date with a girl named Phyllis. She is new to the area and has recently begun buying drugs from Deems. She promises Deems that she is just a casual user and is not hooked, unlike many of his normal customers. Deems believes her and is especially interested in her because she, like Deems, was brought up in the church. Because of her upbringing, Deems suspects that she will be more fun and “wild.”

Deems and Phyllis have a conversation on a pier that begins to turn sexual. Nearby, Deems has one of his men standing guard in case someone tries to sneak up on him. Before Deems and Phyllis can get anywhere, Hot Sausage appears, clearly inebriated, and dressed in an umpire uniform. Deems tells Hot Sausage to go away, but Hot Sausage insists on talking to him in private. Deems refuses, but Hot Sausage relates his message anyway. He tells Deems that Sportcoat wants to meet with him to get rid of any bad blood that may exist because of the shooting.

Before their conversation can go any further, Phyllis takes a gun from her jacket and shoots Deems’s bodyguard. She then turns the gun to Deems and Hot Sausage and shoots both of them as well. Hot Sausage gets hit in the chest, and Deems takes a bullet to the arm. In desperation, Deems hurls himself into the water to try to escape. Unfortunately, Deems cannot swim, and his broken arm makes matters even worse. However, just as he thinks he will drown, Sportcoat, who has been hiding under the pier, appears and pulls Deems’s head above the water. Sportcoat tells Deems to be quiet until Phyllis vacates the scene. After Phyllis is gone, Sportcoat takes Deems to shore and goes to attend to Hot Sausage.