The Celebrants

At Sur la Vie, Jordan and Marielle wake first and have coffee together, and she guesses that his cancer has returned and asks him how long he has left to live. He then helps her to feed her cats. After Jordan delivers the news to the rest of the group, Naomi announces that she’s thinking of selling the house, and Jordan suggests that “thinking about you guys coming back here is one of the few things that makes me feel okay” (277). Jordan then announces that he’s giving his funeral to Jordy so that he’ll die without having his funeral, and their pact will never be concluded. Jordan has the funeral weekend planned, including Jordy’s participation in the Escape from Alcatraz swim race, and the group departs for San Francisco early the next morning.

Jordy begins the race feeling strong. He thinks that he has a chance of placing in his age group. He sees a shadow beneath him in the water, and on the shore Jordan demands to see the binoculars, says “something is wrong” (290), and runs toward the beach. The swimmers who have finished start talking about having seen a high shark below them in the water, and Jordan panics and wades into the water.