Describes a party gathered at a house in England. In later years only caretakers have the house, and in the last part of the story the house is again filled with surviving family members.
Dutiful Eliot Nailles' life is changed after meeting his newest neighbor in Bullet Park, the villainous Paul Hammer, who has designs to murder Eliot's only son.
Joe's decision to leave home is prompted by despair over his mother's blindness to his younger brother's talents and his older brother's drug addiction.
Although not very good at sports or in his schoolwork, Jimmy can draw and dreams of being a great cartoonist; that dream seems within reach when star athlete Charley Beemer suggests they create comics together.