Demon reflects on his “wanting disease,” a restless hunger that makes some people chase booze, drugs, or dangerous choices even when they know better. He argues bad influences matter less than the cravings already inside, and frames his story as an attempt to understand where that hunger came from.

In 2001, Demon enters high school with more status than he ever imagined: he is already a football “General,” worshipped on Fridays and pushed hard by Coach Winfield, who treats Demon like a son and a Lee County project. Demon thrives on the pain and intensity of training and on the thrill of changing the team’s game with unexpected passes, earning newspaper attention and feeling vividly alive.

Demon also secures a rare bright spot at school: Ms. Annie pulls strings to let him take upper-level art all four years, giving him a daily refuge from an academic track he only endures because it keeps him near art. He notices how, after September 11, military recruitment posters and recruiters multiply in the school’s corridor to Career and Tech; the promised path of a paying job feels more real to classmates than distant terrorism, while Demon sees football as his way to matter.

Back among the kids who remember him and even his mother, Demon feels newly real, but he fixates on what he lacks: sexual experience and intimacy. Then Linda Larkins, May Ann’s older sister, abruptly calls and pulls Demon into explicit, ongoing phone sex through his entire freshman year; Demon hides the calls at home, tries to sound “adult,” and never considers hanging up because the attention feels like being chosen.

The Peggots begin inviting Demon to Sunday dinners again, now without fear he is angling to be adopted, and Demon appreciates the stability and Betsy Woodall’s support that helps Coach cover Demon’s upkeep. Visits expose the Peggots’ increasing frailty and Maggot’s escalating withdrawal and risky behavior. Mr. Peggot privately admits he and Mrs. Peggot can’t handle Maggot anymore and asks Demon why kids are so confused now; Demon suggests it is because they can see what they are missing, which breeds anger and restlessness, and he leaves thinking Maggot needs help from someone like Fast Forward, who once saw the best in them.