Long Way Down: Seven Summary & Analysis

Will notes that in elevators, everyone must follow the “elevator rules:” they get in, check that their floor button is lit, and then face forward. Nobody speaks. On the seventh floor, a man who’s older than Will (“but not old,” according to Will) gets on. The man checks to see if the L button is lit. When Will and Shawn were kids, they’d ride the elevator for fun and giggle at everyone else who pressed the L button—“L” meant they were losers. Will wonders if the new passenger knows that within Will and Shawn’s world, Will has already chosen to be a loser.

Will is uncomfortable knowing that the man is looking at him. He recalls seeing men desperately trying to see up girls’ skirts at bus stops. Will feels like one of these girls and thinks that if this man keeps staring, he’s going to get into trouble. Finally Will asks the man if they know each other. The man smiles, looks Will in the eye, and asks if Will doesn’t recognize him. His voice is familiar. The man smiles to reveal sharp, jagged teeth and turns around. There’s a photo of him on the back of his shirt, squatting with middle fingers in the air. The caption reads, “RIP Buck you’ll be missed 4eva.”

Will’s stomach leaps. He says Buck’s name and stumbles backwards. Will thinks this can’t be true and stutters, but Buck finishes his sentence: Will thought Buck was dead. Will rubs his eyes—he’s never smoked or done drugs, but he knows he shouldn’t be able to talk to a dead man. Trying to be cool, Will agrees that he thought Buck was dead, hoping that Buck will say he faked his death—or that Will will wake up from a dream, with the gun under his pillow and his mother asleep at the kitchen table. Buck seems to notice Will’s panic and says softly that he is dead. Will pinches his armpit, slaps himself, and blinks. Buck doesn’t move.

Will says he knows that the reader thinks he was scared of death, but he crosses out the “of” and amends it to read that he was scared to death. He momentarily thinks that he shouldn’t be afraid; Buck was like a big brother to Shawn, and Shawn knew Buck longer than he’d known Pop. On second thought, Will admits he is scared, and wonders if Buck came to get him or to steal his breath. Will offers the anagram “alive=a veil.” Will asks Buck why he’s here and hopes that Buck won’t tell him that he (Will) is dead too. Buck says casually that he came to check on his gun.

Will stands in silence until Buck stage whispers that Will’s “tail” is showing. Will puts his hand behind him to feel the gun. It feels like an extra vertebra or additional backbone. He considers moving it to the front, but he remembers Shawn saying that even angry dogs tuck their tails between their legs as a sign of fear. Buck says that he remembers giving the gun to Shawn. Shawn was about Will’s age, and Buck taught him to use it and instructed him about the Rules of the neighborhood. Buck made Shawn promise to put the gun where Will couldn’t get it. Will tries to make himself sound tough as he says that he got it anyway.

Will says he’s glad he got the gun—he needs it now that Shawn is dead. Will reasons that he doesn’t need to tiptoe around Shawn’s fate—since Buck is dead, he probably already knows that Shawn is too. Regardless, Will explains what happened. His anger tastes sour in his throat as he says that Carlson Riggs of the Dark Suns was the one who killed Shawn. Buck folds his arms, shakes his head, and frowns. He asks Will what he’s going to do. Will replies that he’s going to do what he needs to do, and what Buck himself would’ve done: follow the Rules.

The elevator vibrates as though it’s off track, like the middle drawer. Scared, Will asks what’s taking so long and pounds on the door. Smiling, Buck says the elevator has always been slow, but Will insists this is ridiculous. Buck tells Will to relax—it’s a long way down. Will wonders if Buck didn’t hear him or, like most older people, isn’t taking Will seriously. Will assures the reader that he’s “so forreal.” He snaps that he doesn’t have time to relax, since he has a job to do. Will grabs at his crotch and tells the reader that his “macho” masks his fluttery heart. Buck laughs, and to Will, this feels as painful as a bullet.

Buck teasingly asks Will if he has a job to do and if he’s going to follow the Rules, wiping his tears of laughter away. Will says he is going to, and tries to stand in a manly way, but Buck puts a finger to Will’s chest. It feels like Buck is pressing the L button as he says that Shawn had it in him, but Will doesn’t. Buck asks if Will even checked if the gun was loaded. Will didn’t, and now almost shoots himself trying to figure out how to do so. Buck asks for the gun and easily slides the clip out. He says there are 14 bullets in the clip and one in the hole before putting the clip back in. Will asks how many bullets there should be. Buck says there should be 16, but shrugs.

Will reaches for the gun, but Buck won’t let go. Will tries to yank the gun out of Buck’s hands, but Buck holds on and laughs. Buck finally lets go and Will stumbles back and hits the wall. Under his breath, Buck repeats that Will doesn’t have it in him. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes, puts one in his mouth, and lights it. The match sounds like a finger snap. The elevator stops.