Stephen King Short Story

This is a review of Stephen King's short story, The Death of Jack Hamilton.

John Dillinger was a criminal in his teens. When he was arrested for beating up a businessman, his father told him to plead guilty and take his punishment. The problem is they punished 20-year-old Johnnie too severely with a 10-20-year sentence, although he had no previous record. His accomplice, who had a record, had a good lawyer and only did a few years. Dillinger's wife of four years divorced him. He did nine years, part of which he did in the Indiana penitentiary, at his request, because he played ball and said their team was better.

Stephen King wrote a short story about Dillinger and his buddies titled The Death of Jack Hamilton. His story talks of how handsome Johnnie was and how charming he was from the viewpoint of Homer Van Meter. They met in the Pendleton Reformatory in Indiana. The story tells of them running from the government agents that King calls Gees.

There are descriptions of Dillinger's ''pecker being the size of a Louisville Slugger (baseball bat) [this was a rumor due to a death photo with a bulge under the sheet which was his arm]. King discusses the scar on Johnnie's upper lip and how he got it.

Homer tells the reader this story is about how Dillinger got the scar.

The short story is really an in-depth account of Jack (also called Red) being shot, the men on the run, and a woman who does surgery on Jack with no anesthesia and regular thread to sew him up.

Along the way, they kidnap a family with a smartmouth wife who is lucky they didn't shoot her. Dropping them off at a little town, they drive on in the stolen car, Jack delirious now from his bullet wound. A friend from a tavern tells them they are "hotter than hell," meaning that all the police are hunting them and gets them a room where they stay for five nights. Jack is delirious and weirding out Homer with his sickly odors and semi-conscious remarks, but Johnnie Dillinger tells Homer that Jack will live. "He'll make it."

The delirious guy remembers unusual things his gangster friends did, such as a trick with flies Homer does that he learned while locked up and the stunt where Johnnie runs across rooms on his hands. At one point, Homer watches over Jack so Johnnie can run an errand, and he thinks it would be better all around to just smother him. As he ponders this, a pillow in his hand, Jack wakes up and talks to him, shocking Homer. Dillinger returns, and Homer holds the cushion, feeling guilty.

Jack is getting closer and closer to death, and the details King adds make it clear this is a bad situation. Readers can visualize the poor man and what he is going through. Of course, the doctor they all know won't touch them for fear of arrest.

Dillinger decides they will drive to Aurora, Illinois. (Readers, I used to live near there and was familiar with some other towns named in this story.) In Aurora, Illinois, they meet with another crook and his girlfriend, called Rabbits. (Why King decides on this odd name, plural form, is...well, all King!)

She does surgery using a paring knife, with the guys holding him down. Homer desperately wishes they had thought to open the windows before the surgery began; the stench of the gangrene is overwhelming. The blood and stench don't bother Rabbits; she is determined and ends up pulling out the bullet lodged in his lung with her fingers. The man definitely has gangrene, yet Dillinger still won't hear of anyone saying that he is a goner. At one point Rabbits' boyfriend says they should get out of there and leave Jack; then the cops would have to take care of him. Dillinger replies yes, the cops would take care of him, but they wouldn't take him to a hospital. He says they would "Stick a pillow over his face and sit down it, most likely." Then Homer's voice takes over here, saying, "Which gave me a start, as I'm sure you'll understand." I laughed out loud at that. Another King classic!

After that discussion, Rabbits says she is going to cook. One person reminds her she is covered in blood, and her response is that blood washes off. The men all decide to stay and eat, one by one; they will stay and not run from the Gees. More King at his best.

It is a great thirty-page read with goofy and great details King tends to add to all his writings. I enjoyed the conversations of the characters, and his storytelling keeps you reading and, in some places, laughing out loud. If you read it, you will discover the trick Homer does with flies, find out if Jack lives or dies, and if Dillinger does his handstand walking for him.

Of course, this is a fictionalized account of Stephen King. You need to research what actually happened. I've included one link below about Dillinger. He was declared America's first Public Enemy Number One but was said not to have a killer instinct. Interestingly, he and a friend had plastic surgery done in 1927.

Author note: I grew up a short distance south of Chicago. Walking to grade school with friends, there was a fancy large brick home. We always pointed and whispered, "That's where the mobster lives." When I was very young, my mother told me she answered the phone to a man's voice telling her to put some guy (name forgotten) on the line. When she responded, "You have the wrong number," he snapped, "Don't give me that, Sister!" She hung up.

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