American Gods 2
Neil Gaiman
1. Fat Charlie is given the nickname from his father, Mr. Nancy, even though he was not fat. The name stuck. He grew up in Florida and moved to England when he was 10. He worked hard to get rid of his American accent. As an adult, he got engaged to Rosie and they have started planning their wedding. Rosie says he should invite his dad, but he is unsure. When his mom gets sick, his dad stops by the hospital and hands out beers to everyone around. A nurse chases him down when he tries to smoke. He has a moment with Fat Charlie’s mom before he leaves. A few days later, the hospital is discharging his mom saying it was a false alarm. She takes off to travel the world. When Fat Charlie finally gets up the nerve to call Ms. … to invite her and his father to his wedding, she tells him that he died. He was singing Karaoke and collapsed on stage. As he went down into the audience, he took the tube top off a blonde woman. Fat Charlie is embarrassed by his father. He tells Rosie he has to go to Florida for his father’s funeral. He asks her to stay the night, but she reminds him she isn’t going to have sex until they are married. He gets up and books his plane and calls into work. He notices the birds outside. He would later learn to fear birds.
2. Fat Charlie arrives at the memorial gardens and makes his way to what he thinks is his father’s funeral. He goes to the front and says he didn’t know his dad, but he loves him. Mrs. Higgler comes to fetch him and bring him to the proper grave to bury his father. Afterwards, he follows her back to her house which was down the street from where Mr. Nancy had lived. When they arrive at her house, he changes out of his muddy clothes and he asks her to tell him about his father when he was young. She said she was a girl when she met him and he always had a way with the ladies. She kissed him once, but he went away for a year after and when he came back, she was married to Mr. Higgler and Mr. Nancy brought back Fat Charlie’s mother. She had never seen him look at anyone the way he looked at her. She goes on to tell him his father was special because he was a god. Fat Charlie thinks she is playing a joke on him. She tells him she is completely serious and tells him about Mr. Nancy being a spider from Africa that has had stories told about him for centuries. She also points out a picture of Charlie with his twin brother, Spider. She tells him if he ever needs his brother, he’ll just have to call for him. Charlie goes back to England. Rosie’s mom suggests putting off the wedding for a few months out of respect. Charlie knows it is because she doesn’t like him.
3. After arriving back in England, Charlie isn’t quite sure what to do with the rest of his day. He goes to work, but immediately gets the feeling that he shouldn’t have. He is called into his boss’ office and told that he is on thin ice. Charlie isn’t sure why, but he hasn’t been able to stay at one job for too long. That night, Rosie comes over to his house to shower while the water is out at her place. He hears her scream and rushes in to find out she is scared of a spider in the tub. He gets it out with a piece of paper and takes it outside. Before releasing it, he tells it that if it sees his brother, he should stop by and say hi. That night, Charlie dreams of a man that looks just like him being the life of the party in LA. He convinces everyone to try a purple colored drink he makes from mixing mostly non-alcoholic drinks. He convinces the entire party they can walk on water. They all follow him out to the pool and for a moment, they do actually step onto the water. The man gets distracted talking to a spider and everyone else falls into the pool. He vanishes into the night. Charlie wakes up and goes about his morning. When he looks out his window, there is a man standing by the hedges. A moment later, there is a knock at the door. Charlie opens the door and recognizes him from his mother’s funeral. The man introduces himself as Spider, Charlies’ brother. Charlie invites him in and asks where he came from - LA. He says he is surprised Spider wasn’t at their father’s funeral. Spider is surprised by this news. He asks for something from Mrs. Higgler’s house to be able to check. Spider walks into the photograph. Charlie goes back to bed until his alarm goes off.
4. Charlie wakes up thinking the encounter with his brother was a dream. That day at work, Charlie is singing to himself and his boss yells at him to turn the music off. Charlie explains he was just singing and the boss wonders why he is working there. A woman coworker agrees he sings well. After work, Charlie sees his brother on his way home. He says they need to mourn their father with wine, women, and music. They get in a cab and Spider asks the man if he will be their personal driver for the night. The man declines because he has to get home to his family, but drops them off at a dive bar. Charlie plans to order the house red, but Spider says they need a real mourning wine. He brings them a bottle that is old and says the bar forgot they had it. They drink the whole bottle and then move on. There is a woman’s birthday party coming out of another bar and Spider starts flirting with all the women while Charlie hangs back. Eventually, they make it to another bar that has karaoke. Spider sings a song Charlie loves to sing. Charlie tries to protest that he doesn’t like to be in the spotlight because he get stage fright. When Charlie does get up to sing Unforgetable, he runs off stage saying he has to vomit. Charlie doesn’t remember the rest of the night.
5. The next morning, Charlie wakes up with one of the party girls in his bed. He goes to the bathroom to vomit and then calls into work to say he is sick. He finds Spider went into his work and uses his god power to convince people he is Charlie. He went through the boss’ files to find out some of their clients’ money is put into an offshore account. When the boss comes in to fire Charlie (he wants high turnover to keep people from figuring out what he is up to), Spider points out the accounts and how it must be legal or else he’s have to report it. He the. Says he has to get back to work and the boss leaves the room confused. Charlie is surprised the girl, Daisy, really is there. He asks if they did anything and for her name. She assures her she just came back with them to help Spider get Charlie home. She has a thing for Spider, but Charlie had the extra space in his bed, so she took it. She tells him how he sang Unforgettable in the taxi on the way home. There is a knock at the door and Charlie is panicked to find his future mother-in-law there to see him. She insists on being invited in and he takes her to the kitchen. She tells him she is going to be more involved in the wedding planning and he will only be allowed to invite ten guests. He tries to tell her he has more family than that, but she explains it is all about the money (she inherited her husband’s money when he passed). When Daisy comes into the kitchen in a towel after having showered, Charlie says she is his cousin. After the old woman leaves, Charlie explains to Daisy what just happened. Daisy promises to disappear and he will never see her again. Rosie goes to Charlie’s work on her lunch to talk to Charlie. Spider tells her he is Charlie and she believes him. She can’t remember being this attracted to him before. They go to lunch and then for a walk. She asks where he was the previous night and he says he was out with his newly found brother. They both decide not to go back to work. Charlie goes to work and the boss comes to tell him he can take a few weeks off paid with extra spending money. Charlie goes outside and sees Rosie walking hand in hand with Spider and she kisses him. Charlie goes home and lays in his bed. He has a dream about his father having a heart attack on the sand. Rosie tells her mom about how she is so in love with Charlie. Her mother is suspicious about the girl he called his cousin and drinking. Rosie wonders if her mother’s hatred of Charlie is one of the reasons she loves him. Grahame Coates, the boss, goes through his files to delete any evidence. Anansi tells his wife and sons his dying wishes are to be buried under a tree by the pea patch and have an eternal flame burning. Each night Anansi eats the peas. The family has nothing to eat because of it. They make a man out of tar to scare Anansi from the pea patch. Anansi hits the tar man, but his hands get stuck to the tar. That is how his family finds him the next morning.
6. Daisy has breakfast with her roommate that is curious why she Disney come home the other night. Daisy tells her to mind her own business. She gets a call from Grahame Coates saying he suspects Charlie Nancy is embezzling money through his company. She agrees to look into it. Grahame Coates calls Charlie to ask him to come in to the office to sign a few pieces of paper. Charlie agrees to it. Charlie is getting frustrated with Spider staying in his apartment and says so. Spider says he likes it there and isn’t leaving. He has moved his things into the spare bedroom. Charlie looks in his usually tiny spare bedroom and sees it is much bigger and filled with Spider’s things, including a hot tub. Charlie realizes the reason Spider wants to stay is because of Rosie. When Charlie goes back to the kitchen, he sees Spider eating the steak Charlie bought for him and Rosie for dinner. Spider tells him it will be fine because he already talked to Rosie and they are going out to dinner. Charlie is furious. When he leaves, he is unable to find his way back home. That night, Rosie agrees to go back to Spider’s place and they have sex. Charlie is out all night unable to find his way home. He goes to the office and finds Grahame Coats telling him Daisy is there to investigate Charlie. When Charlie is finally able to go home, he tells Spider he wants him to leave, but Spider refuses. Charlie calls Mrs. Higgler and asks how to get his brother to leave. He decides he needs to go back to Florida.
7. Charlie takes a plane to Florida and Mrs. Higgler picks him up. They get where they are going and Charlie thinks the room he is in with four old ladies resembles a scene from MacBeth. Spider goes over to Rosie’s house that night and has sex with her again. He is starting to feel strange, but can’t quite place the feeling. The old women have a bit of a ritual and suddenly Charlie is teleported to a dream-like state. He asks the animals around him for help getting rid of his brother, but none of them want to help because Anansi had played such mean tricks on all of them. They tell him their father should settle the dispute, but Charlie points out Anansi is dead. The tiger walks with him for a bit, but then suddenly seems to want to kill him. He backs away from the tiger until it goes back to its place on the rocks. The hyena tells him the tiger hates Anansi the most. Charlie says his father is dead, but the hyena points out he could still exist in that world. He tells Charlie to talk to the cave that appears to be empty. Charlie moves on and the monkey begs him for fruit. He tries to leave the annoying monkey behind, but it folows him for a while. He meets a woman that he can tell is really a bird. He asks for help and she asks for the Anansi bloodline. He agrees to trade it for something and she puts something in his hand. She erupts into a flock of birds. Charlie is woken up by the old woman. He tells them what he remembers and opens his hand to find a feather. Mrs. Higgler drives him to the cemetery. Two cranes seem to follow them. There is a story where Anansi tricks a bird into a pot by telling her it would make her immortal. Instead, he made her into a soup.
8. Spider tries to win over Rosie’s mother, but she doesnmt like him. She can tell something has changed about Charlie and she doesn’t like it. She asks about cousin Daisy. Spider is confused at first and then remembers the funny little girl he brought home to help with Charlie. He tells them she travels for work and is hard to get a hold of. Daisy’s parents were academics they met at Cambridge. As a cop, Daisy has specialized in white collar crime that she doesn’t think the good guys generally understand. She tries to tell her boss she shouldn’t be involved in the case because she spend the night at his house. He tells her she is being silly since there wasn’t any sexual relationship. He tells her to stop wasting his time. Maeve tells Grahame Coats she knows what he has been doing. He tries to blame it on Charlie, but she points out it has been going on long before Charlie was hired. He offers her half the amount not to tell on him. Grahame Coats packs up his valuables, shred documents, and runs a program to erase his computer. He tells the receptionist he is going to lunch, but really plans to make a run for it. Spider starts to wonder if Charlie is going to come back. He gets ready to go to lunch with Rosie. They go into a Greek restaurant and sit in the back at a table for two. He tells her he is Charlie’s brother, Spider, and that he wants her to dump him and go out with him. When Rosie’s mouth opens, birds fly out. Suddenly, there are birds everywhere and they are attacking him. He looks at the woman who is clearly not Rosie. He pours hot coffee over her and she disappears. The proprietor comes to apologize for the birds, they are suddenly gone. Spider asks if he came in with a woman, but he doesn’t know.
9. Charlie feels his luck changing. He is bumped up to first class and wins a box of chocolates on the flight home. When he gets on the train, he sees the bird woman in a trench coat for a second. He isn’t sure what he saw in Florida really happened. Spider is afraid of the birds and asks to take her back to his place for lunch. When they arrive, Charlie gets out of a cab and Rosie is confused. Spider sends her home telling her to forget what just happened. She goes home and the boys go inside. Spider wants to know where Charlie has been. Charlie doesn’t answer, but tells him it is time to leave. They end up physically fighting. Charlie wins and tells Spider to pack his things and leave. The police show up to arrest him. He agrees to go quietly with Daisy. Spider comes out of his room later and wonders where Charlie is. Rosie comes over later. She goes to open the curtains, but Spider tells her not to because he thinks the birds are after him. He tells her he is not really Charlie. She is upset with both of the brothers. She slaps Spider and leaves. Flamingos break into Spider’s room and he has to leave it. Rosie goes to her mother to tell her she has broken up with both brothers (though Charlie doesn’t know it yet). Her mother is happy with this news. Rosie admits she is in love with Spider, but has no intention to be with him either. Her mother says they will take a holiday to get her over Spider and find her someone else. Charlie is locked up. He tries to tell the police he hasn’t done anything. He asks for some reading material, but they can’t give him anything because previous prisoners have clogged the toilets. Grahame Coats heads to St. Andrew’s in the Caribbean. He doesn’t care that he might have left a woman for dead. He doesn’t feel guilt at all.
10. Charlie is bored in jail. He is allowed outside for a bit, but t so many birds gather that he calls to be let back inside. The guard is surprised by the number of birds. Maeve wakes up in Coat’s office remember that he assaulted her. She tries to call the police with her cell phone, but a voice tells her she can’t make the call. Same when she calls the hospital and her roommate. The police show up out of uniform. Maeve tries to talk to them, but they ignore her. They think she ran off with Coats. When her phone rings, she answers it to talk to her husband Morris. She tells him what happened and he tells her she is dead. She has trouble believing it at first. When the connection goes, she experiments with going through walls. Charlie finds himself feeling safer in his cell. Spider arrives convincing the police he is Charlie’s attorney, but is really there to get him out of jail. Charlie is reluctant, but decides to go. Spider takes them to Italy for hot chocolate. When the birds start to close in on them, he jumps them to the dessert. The buzzards there start to circle and he tries the attic circle. Even the penguins are after them. Spider asks about the deal Charlie made with the bird woman. Charlie says he exchanged the Anansi blood line for a feather. Spider points out that the bloodline includes Charlie and asks about the feather. Charlie says he thinks Mrs. Dunwiddy (one for the old ladies in Florida) might have it. Charlie asks if Slider can take them there. Spider says he is afraid of the woman and she banished him once and cannot go back. Spider tells Charlie about Rosie breaking up with them and they both think it might be fire the best. Spider takes Charlie back to jail where he knows he will be safe. A bit later, someone comes to take him to interrogation. Maeve wanders around haunting different things and wondering how she can find Coates to haunt him. She wishes she could talk to her husband again and Morris appears on a display wall of TVs. He tells her she can cross over and be with him, but she tells him she isn’t ready yet. He says he will be there for her when she is and disappears. While Daisy is interrogating Charlie about what has been going on, Charlie asks if they have checked the secret room in Coate’s office. They take him down to the office to show them the secret room. Once they are able to unlock the door, Charlie is free to go. He asks Daisy if she would like to go to lunch sometime and she agrees they can go Dutch. They have Chinese food that Sunday. They talk a little about the case, but Daisy isn’t allowed to reveal much. They get the same fortune in their cookies and Charlie puts his in his pocket. When they leave, Daisy points out there aren’t any birds out. They go their separate ways and Charlie runs into Spider. Spider tells him he needs to go back to Mrs. Dunwiddy and get the feather back to get the birds to leave them alone. He also tells him to find their father if he thinks he is still alive. He gives him money from his wallet to help him get there. Suddenly, the birds come in Thousands. Spider tells Charlie it isn’t his time yet and starts to run. Spider is overtaken by the birds and vanishes. Charlie tells the birds he wants to undo their deal. He offers himself to save his brother. The bird woman appears and tells his his time will come too. She plans to deliver Spider to fulfill her own obligation.
11. Charlie goes to the cemetery to try to talk to his mother. Mrs. … picks him up to take him to Mrs. Dunwiddy. She says she is 104 and will die soon. She admits she did him wrong by pulling all the trickery and badness out of him to create Spider. He remembers accidentally breaking her crystal ball and her sending Spider away. He asks about the feather and she says she thinks Mrs. Higgler has it and went to St. Andrew’s. She tells him to go there. Charlie goes to the airport to get a ticket to St. Andrew’s. At first, there is only something he can’t afford, but then the clerk finds a $500 deal that includes hotel and meals. Charlie pays him. Daisy and her boss find out Coates had gone to St. Andrew’s where they have no extradition. She goes home to tell her roommate she is taking a holiday there to catch the bad guy. Charlie falls asleep on the plane and sees Spider chained up in his dream. He says he has Prometheus’ punishment and he needs Charlie to get him out. Charlie says he will fix everything, but neither are sure how. When Charlie lands, he takes a taxi to his hotel. The driver says St Andrew’s has everything anyone could ever need and pulls over to give Charlie a lime from a lime tree on the side of the road. Charlie says he is looking for a specific woman and the driver says he knows everyone on the island. When Charlie gets to the hotel. He checks in and they ask about his luggage. He says he only has the lime. When he gets to his room, he takes a bath and the bellhop interrupts it to give him the line he left in reception. Coates is miserable with his new identity as Basil Finnegan. He goes to a restaurant and Rosie and her mother happens to be at the next table. She recognizes him and reintroduces herself. He doesn’t like the idea of them getting back to London and telling anyone they saw him. He offers for them to come back to his place, but they turn him down because they are getting ready to leave. He offers them a ride and they accept. He tells the driver to go home. Maeve is surprised that someone is able to see her in Florida. He is another ghost and they take a walk together. He tells her that a long time ago, all the stories belonged to Tiger. It was a bad time for everyone because they ended in tears and blood. Anansi took the stories away from Tiger with trickery, wit, and wisdom. People learned how to think. Tiger wants the stories back. She asks if she can touch anything. He tells her he can touch anything immaterial like herself or him. She turns down his advances and she asks him to help her find Coates. Spider tries to talk the bird woman into letting him go and she cuts out his tongue. She says she won’t be the one to kill him. Rosie’s mother convinces her to see Coates’ house. He locks them in and drinks his wine.
12. Charlie has been traveling by bicycle around the island. When Coates sees him, he tries to run him off the road. He get close enough to scrap the handle bars, but not to run him over as he had hoped. Charlie takes a bus back to the hotel. Coates’ car follows him. Charlie goes up to his room until dinner. Everyone thinks Daisy is crazy for going to St. Andrews, but she goes anyway. Spider still isn’t able to move. Maeve finds Spider, but she isn’t able to free him. He concentrates on freeing himself. Coates thinks Rosie and her mother are cops as well as Charlie and they are all after him. He gives the women a bucket and food. Rosie’s mother is grateful. Rosie realizes he is going to have to kill him and Coates comes to the same conclusion soon after. A spider comes to Spider and he tries to communicate to it to get help. He can smell a cat has marked its territory. Charlie goes down to the hotel restaurant for his included meal. Daisy arrives soon after. They go in and Coates joins them. He pulls out a gun and tells them he is going to take them with him. The lounge singer is going around the room singing and talking to people. When she gets to Charlie, he tells her he is a singer like her. She lets him sing a song and afterwards, he announces his proposal to Daisy in front of the whole room. She says yes and the crowd leads her to him on the stage. When Charlie looks back at their table, Coates is gone.
13. Spider is able to knock one of the stakes out of the ground and free his arms. He holds one of the stakes to use it as a spear. He whimpers to draw in the tiger. When it attacks, Spider attacks and the tiger walks away stiffly. Rosie isn’t afraid. Her mother is. She tries to encourage her mother to eat, but she makes a comment about Rosie’s father dying of a heart attack at the age of 51. Charlie goes to talk to the familiar people around the hotel asking for Mrs. Higgler. The old woman turns up and Charlie demands his feather back. She gives it to him. He asks what he is supposed to do with it, but she says that would be an question for Mrs. Dunwiddy. Charlie is suddenly with his father. He says he has to die every now and then to keep everything going. Charlie wants to know why his father tried so hard to embarrass him. Anansi says that wasn’t he intention. He tells Charlie he loves him and gives him a kiss to give to Spider. He puts a hat on Charlie, who insists he looks horrible in hats. Anansi tells him to look at his reflection. When Charlie turns back, his father is gone. Tiger comes to taunt Spider, but there is an army of spiders behind him in the dark. When Tiger comes near, the spiders attack. As Spuder is escaping, a man approaches him surrounded by firefly light in a green fedora. Coates drinks a bottle of cooking sherry in his desperation for alcohol. He arms himself with his gun. knifes, and a hacksaw. He goes to the basement and tells the two women he is going to let them go. When he opens the door, he sees Rosie’s mom mooning him and Rosie hits him over the head and the gun goes flying out of his hand. Rosie bolts the door and she and her mom get out and leave in the dark. Coates accidentally stabbed himself in leg with one of the knives. A four legged creature is there with him. It unbolts the door. The creature asks if he is willing to go with him. Coates says he will and Tiger takes over. They start going after the two women. Charlie runs into Dragon who wants to eat him. He asks the Dragon if he is afraid of anything. Dragon says he is scared of nothing. Charlie says he has nothing in his pockets and Dragon runs away. Charlie finds the bird woman and demands his brother. She tells him she took him to Tiger’s world. He gives her the feather and she gives him Spider’s tongue to return to him. He thinks of the fedora as a thinking cap and thinks about what to do next. He follows a web and the fireflies gather around him. He finds Spider and gives him his tongue. Rosie and her mom make it out of the cellar and locks it. The power is out. Before they can find a phone to call the police, Coates breaks out of the basement. Rosie throws the blonde block at the creature and makes a run for it. Rosie’s mom punches it. The doorbell rings and Rosie screams. Rosie thinks she is hallucinating the Tiger and a slim blonde woman. The woman tells Tiger she recognizes Coates. She tells him what he did and that he is a rat. She fights the large cat in delight. People come into the house with flashlights. Coates lay bleeding on the floor and Rosie’s mother is crumpled. Daisy comes up to Rosie and introduces herself. Charlie says he thinks Spider was created from a part of him. Spider says they have to rescue Rosie from Tiger. They go to the house, but they leave when they realize their isn’t much they can do. Maeve is happy with what she has done to Coates. Morris calls to her and she takes his hand this time.
14. The next morning, Charlie wakes up to Daisy knocking on his door. She tells him what happened at Coates’ house. Charlie and Spider go to the hospital. Spider is told only family is allowed in. Charlie walks in with Daisy. Rosie’s mom and Coates are in intensive care. Rosie doesn’t think her mom is going to make it. She tells Spider she still hates him, but she felt like he was helping her and keeping Tiger away. Daisy pulls Charlie out into the hall. When they look back in the room, Spider and Rosie are kissing. The police come and update her. Coates died. Daisy leaves to go back to the hotel. Charlie asks to go to the place at the start of the world with all the caves ti try to save Rosie’s mom like how Anansi did for their mom for a little while. The concentrate and end up on the beach. The animals are there and staring at them. Charlie says they need to sing to them to fix things. Tiger starts to approach them. Charlie tries to sing, but nothing comes out. He sees Anansi behind the other creature and finds his voice. He sings a song about himself. The creatures clap and sing along. Tiger says the songs aren’t theirs. When Tiger roars, Charlie wraps his song around it. He impersonates Tiger’s roar and the animals laugh. He sings a song about Rosie and her mother. Charlie realizes he likes singing and decides that is what he will do for the rest of his life. Spider asks what Charlie did at the end of the song. He says he fixed things. They go back to the hospital. Rosie says her mother is going to recover. Rosie says she plans to stay on the island because they need teachers. He says he will find something to do there. Back at the hotel, Daisy tells Charlie she has been put on leave for a nervous break until she feels well enough to return. Charlie pulls out Rosie’s engagement ring and proposes to Daisy. She agrees to take it. Tiger is furious. He plays with a small animal. When he asks if it will cooperate. When Tiger removes its paw from its mouth, it bites the large cat. Tiger catches the small animal again. The two are trapped in the cave together until Spider forgets about them. Anansi returns to his grave to sleep. He listens to Mrs. Dunwiddy’s funeral. Spider goes to the town library and clears out Coates’ bank accounts. He sends it to he makes a charitable business and tells them to hire Rosie to do good. Spider works as a cook in the kitchen in the island. Rosie’s mom misses London, but stays with Rosie in the hopes of grandchildren. Charlie becomes a singer and has a son named Marcus. One morning, he takes Marcus to the beach. Marcus asks about American presidents. They sing Yellow Bird and a few other songs together. A mermaid joins them. She sings with them and tells Charlie he used to do the same with his dad. He puts his fedora hat on Marcus as they leave the beach. They dance in the sand to the house.