Jesus' Son

This story begins with the narrator relating what he does over his lunch break: He visits a worker at the plant nursery across the street. The narrator believes the worker might sleep with him but might also be hiding a wedding ring. The narrator eventually decides not to go back to her because “[s]he seemed much too grownup for me” (115).

He works at a hospital for the elderly. The narrator reveals that he only has a job due to encouragement from Narcotics Anonymous members, and he feels ambivalent about it. The narrator feels responsible for providing an encouraging touch for the patients, who frequently need it. He relates the stories of some of the patients at the hospital, who include people who are unable to care for themselves.

The setting of this story is east Phoenix, where the hospital has a view of the desert. One day, while walking home from the bus stop, the narrator overhears a woman singing in her shower. Fascinated, he heads over to the window to see if he can peek inside at the woman, and he sees her toweling herself off in the bathroom. He fantasizes about sexually assaulting the woman, then rejects the idea because she could see his face. The woman’s husband arrives home, and the narrator ducks behind a cactus before he is spotted.

The narrator starts dating a woman he met at a dance for “recovering drunkards and dope addicts, people like me” (120). The narrator sleeps with her frequently, but, unable to commit, never stays for very long. As the spring continues, the narrator reveals that he frequently returned to the strange woman’s home so he could spy on her in the shower. The routine of the first night is repeated over and over, as the woman’s husband always arrives home at the same time. The narrator begins to wait until darkness so he can watch the couple from other windows, spying on them in the living room and eating dinner. He realizes that the couple are Amish or Mennonites, based on the way that they dress. The narrator starts to plan how he might watch them have sex.

Months pass, and the narrator continues to work and attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. He still watches the Mennonite couple frequently. He watches their bedroom, but never catches them making love. After about a month, the narrator’s wish comes true, but they shut their curtains, meaning he can only hear them. All of a sudden, the curtain is swept away, and the narrator is left staring into the Mennonite woman’s face. The narrator realizes that she can’t see him due to the darkness, but looking at her, he realizes the couple was fighting, not having sex. The husband comes into the room, looking apologetic, and without a word, he retrieves a bucket and lovingly washes his wife’s feet.

The narrator reveals he’s broken up with the first girlfriend and is now dating someone else. He stays with her each night for longer, and she tells him about her previous boyfriends, most of whom died young and tragically. The narrator ends the story by sharing how happy he is in this situation, ending the story by writing, “All these weirdos, and me getting a little better every day right in the midst of them. I had never known, never even imagined for a heartbeat, that there might be a place for people like us” (133).