ATDTDA (7): Who might or might not be looking, 208

[Paul Nightingale]

Cooper reappears to remind us of the way the chapter
has shifted from Reef to Frank: one notices that he
"follow[s] Frank and Reef" (ie, Reef relegated) and
Frank finally speaks to him. Cooper, then, inserts
himself between the brothers. Franks asks if he is OK;
whereas Reef, recalling the seductive powers of his
guitar-picking, "advise[s]" him (a paternalistic
touch) to focus on women. Even now, Reef is thinking
of what he said earlier, learn to play guitar as a
means to manipulating women more effectively.

By the end of the section they have parted as
strangers, the sibling relationship that shaped the
action at the outset now suppressed.