Jesus' Son

“Two Men” begins with the unnamed narrator telling the story of meeting “the first man” (13). He is taken to a dance by a couple of friends, and he kisses a woman. However, she has a boyfriend, who gets angry and makes her leave, and the narrator becomes afraid the man might return and attack him. When the narrator and his friends return to the car, they find a stranger sleeping in the back seat. The stranger, who is “bulky as an ape,” indicates he can’t hear or speak, and, through hand signals, directs them to take him home (15). At a certain house, the stranger gets out and knocks on the door, but blocks the narrator from leaving when he tries to pull away.

They throw the passed-out stranger in the back seat, annoyed at being stuck with him. Without knowing where to take him, they knock on the door that the stranger had knocked on but are sent away. The narrator continues to worry about the woman’s boyfriend, paranoid that he might find him and shoot him. The stranger directs them to a different house, which turns out to be a brothel. They are told that the stranger isn’t welcome there.