Fed Up

"I hated every one of them...Who did they think they were, making fun of a girl reduced to poor circumstances with a man who wanted to belove? We were minding our own business. And we didn't get a blessed ride." - pg 89

Sal has now experienced all faces of this glorious road trip. He felt the passion, became a wild-child on the road, fell in love, became broke, and now he is experiencing the road's grim realities. These teenagers that were flying past them screaming may not even have meant to be malicious, but Sal was quick to blame. At this point, the honeymoon stage of his road trip is over. He met a girl who he decided to live with over the next few months(?), and now he has to make it work for not only her, but also for her child. He has no money, no job, his friends are gone, and he procrastinated finding a job almost every day.

However, it is evident that Sal's former abstract, romantic purpose is still there. He just wanted to "belove." This is something he sought out to do on his road trip, and now that it has happened, it's not as happily-ever-after as he may have expected. Yes he found love but it came with "circumstances." This is what his road trip has came down to. Soon he will even leave Terry and it will all just become a learning experience for him.

My question: The story takes a totally different turn in these three chapters (12-14). Sal is no longer running around with his friends to party in a different place every night. He has found responsibility, he finds himself a family. Do you think this what he was looking after all along? Did Sal get the experience he was asking for/expecting?