A Brief History of Seven Killings: Part 4, Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

The greasy-haired man in John-John’s bed asks for money. John-John gives him $15 and the man calls him a “cheap faggot” and leaves. John-John thinks about a boy called Rocky he fell for back in Chicago. He uses a payphone to call Rocky, who does not want to talk to him. They exchange irritated words and then hang up. John-John feels unprepared to take out the Jamaican man and feels like it was part of Griselda’s plan for them to both end up dead.

John-John berates himself for being a “hitman with daddy issues.” He recalls the time when his father discovered his stack of gay porn magazines and called him “sick” and a “fucking dirty little faggot.” Although John-John was still very young, he pulled a gun on his father and taunted him. He left home after that. In the present, John-John finds himself back at the phone booth, leaving a stammering answerphone message for Rocky.