ATDTDA (7): The one that ain't Reef, 203-206

[Paul Nightingale]

Frank meets Linnet Dawes. Previously, he had wandered
(much as Kit had when he went to stay with the Vibes,
163); but now he finds a woman who isn't "wary of him"
(202), one he can single out--much as Cooper managed
to single out Sage. If Frank began as an attachment of
sorts to Reef, he is now his own man ("the one that
ain't Reef", 204). Discovering Linnet, he "happen[s]
to look up" (203); her appearance echoes that of Sage
when Cooper similarly "locked [his eyes] on the
upstairs windows across the street" (202). And just as
Frank distances himself from Reef, so does Linnet
distance herself from Stray: "Not that we're
confidantes or anything." (204)

A complex series of relationships, then; and Frank is
starting to assert himself as a character. Going back
to the first time we met him, one notices "Reef and
Frank" and "Webb and the boys" in a general
introduction (90). Further down that same page, the
children's response to dynamite is recorded: whereas
Reef has a look about him, "Frank [is] more curious",
trying to assert himself here, not content with his
father's demonstration, "trying to blow up every form
of terrain he could talk Webb around to, just to see
if there was a general rule to any of it". Frank wants
totalising knowledge.

He reappears on 92, singled out, not an afterthought
to his elder brother: "The kids grew up seeing Webb
thrown out of places, more and more as time went on,
often being right there with him, Frank especially,
when it happened." Why "Frank especially"? Frank, it
seems, in search of "a general rule" is making the
connection between dynamite and "Webb [being] thrown
out of places ..." etc. His function as a character is
to make that narrative connection.

One might suppose nothing more than a case of sibling
rivalry; but these are not real people, of course.
Reef's relation to Frank echoes Webb's to Deuce: at
the start of this chapter (199) we're told that Frank
has borrowed money from Reef, who sponsors him as a
parent might. Frank challenges the patriarchal power
represented by his brother, just as, earlier, Kit and
Lake have openly challenged Webb himself.

Subsequently, Frank is confronted by Stray;
immediately--as though to remind her that he's "the
one that ain't Reef"--he asks if she's looking for
Reef (205). He gives her directions (or attempts to)
as earlier he gave Cooper directions to find Sage
(202). Nonetheless, there are the beginnings of an
attraction (205-206), all of which confirms the
progress Frank has made since he gave Cooper
directions: even though the scene involves a
discussion of Reef, he has been pushed further and
further away.