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One cry of pain escaped him before he left for all time his old and simply existence. "Pilon," he said sadly, "I wished you owned it and I could come live with you."

This quote is Danny's only spoken utterance of remorse for having the burden of the houses placed on him. It takes place at the beginning of chapter two, when Danny and Pilon take up inhabitance of the inherited houses. It is interesting that, even then, so early in the story, and so unsure of how things would end up, Danny was aware that his life was changing, and probably not for the better. Already he envies Pilon for having the comfort of living in a house without the responsibility of owning it. Though he is distracted for a while by the periodic reemergence of old friends, this sentiment will grow on Danny. Stuck in a lackluster but comfortable existence, he will repeatedly wish for the days of his freedom and youth. Eventually, desire for freedom overwhelms Danny's sense of responsibility and place. He goes on a rampage of crime, squeezing the wild life of a decade into just a month, but even then it is to late. When he took on the houses, Danny gave up his youth, and he could never recover it. Instead of waiting around for death and enduring another thirty years of painful reminiscence, Danny battles his fate, choosing an early and glorious death over an extended painful one.

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