Summary of Chapter 9 - An End to Kindness, Ed Parry

Jim searches the houses of Colombia Road for food and water, finding only left over party/cocktail food. He also plays in the lavish houses, in their games rooms and bedrooms. Jim reads magazines in the bedrooms and finds himself feeling empty as he sees the toy cupboards in the children's rooms. As the water on Colombia Road has been turned off, Jim has had to drink the dripping water from the roof tanks that makes him ill. He barely recognizes himself when he looks in the mirrors and he sees a boy half the size, and twice the age.

One afternoon Jim sees a group of Japanese soldiers cooking a meal in an empty swimming pool. He is watched as he walks towards them and sits on the edge of the swimming pool. The kind Japanese soldiers give him the ends of their meal and the warm food brings Jim to tears. Realising that Jim was starving the soldier gives him water as well.

For the next week Jim stayed with the Japanese, met them each morning and ran errands for them. Almost always they left him a little food and he very quickly became dependant on them.

One morning the kind Japanese soldiers failed to appear. He waited patiently until the verandah doors opened behind him. Different Japanese soldiers stepped onto the terrace and called him over. The corporal hit him on the head and pushed him around the flower beds. Shouting at him in German, he threw Jim into the drive.

Finally, as Jim set out to the Bund, he thought of the kind Japanese soldiers who had fed him, and realised that kindness counted for nothing.