Chapter 14

This chapter appears to take place some years before 1932, when Hicks first met Daphne

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how jay it’s getting around this joint anymore
Dull, unsophisticated, inferior. Beginning in the Midwest in the early 19th-century, “jay” was common slang for an empty-headed chatterbox, like a bluejay. A “jay” was a hick, a rube, or a downright dupe. A “jay town” was a fourth-rate or worthless place. More…