Crossroads

Russ reflects on how wonderfully his day was going before the discussion with Clem. Frances had reiterated the idea that they should try her son’s marijuana together—provided that Russ makes up with Rick. Russ is so intent on winning Frances that he heads to Rick’s office, trying to propel himself with the thought that repairing things with Rick might also win back Clem’s lost respect.

His conversation with Rick is tense; both men admit they do not like each other. Russ admits that he hates Rick because it is obvious that Rick is God’s chosen leader for the youth ministry, not Russ. Wordlessly, Rick leaves the room and returns with an offering plate filled with water. He begins washing Russ’s feet, echoing the biblical symbol of servanthood and humility that Jesus performed for his disciples. Russ protests, but eventually the gesture unlocks a peaceful feeling. Though he still feels insecure with Rick, he thinks he can finally put the feud behind him.

Becky arrives at Laura’s house and starts apologizing, but Laura is unmoved. When Becky melodramatically drops to her knees in desperation, Laura hits her across the face. Laura immediately regrets it, having experienced physical abuse from her father, and apologizes. Capitalizing on her guilt, Becky asks one more time if Laura will return to the church for the concert, and Laura feels just guilty enough to agree.

Clem walks home and tells Marion about his decision to give up student deferment. She does not panic but urges him to return to college and get back together with Sharon, as she can tell he regrets the breakup. Clem, recalling his earlier fights with Russ and Becky, realizes his time at home would not be enjoyable anyway, so he might as well take his mother’s advice. 

Perry, upset by his mother’s revelation that he may have inherited a mental health condition from her family, can no longer withstand the desire to get high. He attempts to buy his own marijuana back from Ansel Roder, but when Ansel refuses he goes to the Crossroads concert to convince a friend to accompany him to a dealer’s house. The friend refuses, so Perry goes alone. When he gets there, the man seems high and incoherent, rambling mindlessly. He is out of marijuana but offers Perry a large handful of amphetamines. Perry, now desperate for any type of drug, takes several and chews them up. 

When Russ returns home after his conversation with Rick, he is startled to find Marion smoking. Asking her about it incredulously, he is startled even further by her defiant response. Unsure how to proceed, he changes the subject to Clem’s military decision. Marion casually replies she has already fixed this, having sent him back to Sharon hours earlier. Russ, now firmly taken aback by the change in his mild-mannered wife, tries changing the subject yet to Perry’s drug use, but Marion is again one step ahead of him.

She steers the conversation to Frances, saying she knows he lied earlier and spent the day with Frances alone. Marion seems like a completely different person, insisting she will smoke if she wants to and snidely wondering how Russ plans to take care of Frances in the long term, as he will still have four children and makes $7,000 a year.

He tries to stammer a defense, but all the while he finds himself newly attracted to this strange version of his wife. He tries to initiate sex, but she pushes him away, rejecting his sexual advances for the first time in their decades-long relationship. The argument turns even uglier, with each insisting that the other dragged them down and ruined their life. After Russ makes an extremely cutting remark about her appearance, Marion tells him that he has no idea who he married. He petulantly says, “Since I’m so stupid, maybe you should tell me.” In response, she blows a smoke ring in his face and answers, “Wait and see” (367).

After calming down and thinking about his situation further, Clem decides not to listen to Marion and to stick to his original decision. He boards a bus bound for New Orleans, wanting to enjoy whatever time remains before the military drafts him far away from his family.