Nick is eating his breakfast that Jesse cooked for him, while Jesse stood over the stove, cooking his own breakfast. Jesse finally put his plate down, while Nick is studying his bonds, their glasses of orange juice began to rattle and shake on the table. Puzzled, both Nick and Jesse hurried to the window...
"What the heck is that?" Jesse asked, then ran outside to meet the stranger. Gatsby's yellow Duesenberg hurtles up Nick's drive. Nick emerges to his porch, while Jesse is nearly hit by the Dusenberg. The car comes to a screeching, dusty halt in Nick's drive. Both Jack and Gatsby leap out of the car! Nick could see the uncanny resemblance between Jack and Gatsby, as he almost couldn't tell which was which.
"Its pretty isn't it, old sport...? Haven't you seen it before? Its all a custom job. Supercharged engine. Get dressed... We're having lunch!"
"Come on, Jesse! Hop in! Its fast!" Jack says, equally as excited as his cousin.
Supercharged...?! What? Jesse wondered, scratching his head in disbelief. He looked down at himself, seeing he was content with how he was dressed, he got into the car. It was indeed a long car. Both Nick and Jesse got into the back seat of the car, and Jack got to ride up front alongside his cousin.
The Duesenberg whips and winds along a tree-lined road... Gatsby, beyond nervous, drives with reckless intensity. To Jesse, this man drove far worse than that of his father, even while he was drunk.
"Ah... well... Ah... Look here, gentlemen.. What's your opinion of me, anyhow?" Both Jesse and Nick looked at each other, all the while Jack was holding on for dear life up front.
"Our... opinion?" Nick finally manages.
"Yes, yes, your opinion!" Gatsby yanks the wheel; while all three men hung on for dear life! "I don't want you to get the wrong impression from all those bizarre accusations you must be hearing. A pack of lies I assure you. You've heard the stories...?"
"Well-" Nick began.
"I'll tell you God's truth. God's truth about myself!" Gatsby raises his right hand as if to solemnly swear... "I am the son of some very wealthy people from the Middle-West; sadly, all dead now... I was brought up in America, but educated at Oxford; because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. You see, it's a... a family tradition..." As Gatsby's speech continues at breakneck speed...
No wonder people thought he was lying... Nick thought, while Gatsby continued, "After that I lived like a young Prince in all the capitals of Europe!"
"Europe?" Nick was surprised. Barrelling around a blind turn, Gatsby wrenches at the wheel and maniacally overtakes a truck laden with farmhands...Jesse barely hangs on to the seat behind Gatsby, to prevent himself from shifting in his seat.
"Yes, Europe! Paris; Venice; Rome; Vienna, Zurich, Helsinki... Collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting big game, painting, a little, things for myself mostly, and trying to forget something very sad that happened to me long ago..." He then looked at Jack... "I though I saw you back there at Rome, Jack. But I didn't recognize..." The Duesenberg rockets forth; in the far distance the lush green countryside cedes to the lifeless Valley of Ashes. Gatsby hasn't stopped for breath... "Then came the war, old sport..."
"Just when I thought it couldn't be any more fantastical..." Nick says sarcastically, rolls his eyes, then turns to Jesse.
"It was a great relief and I tried very hard to die, but I seemed to bear an enchanted life..."
Nick leaned close to Jesse. "He became a war hero, singlehandedly defeating the German army!" Gatsby continues to speaks with sudden, subdued emotion.
"In the Argonne Forest I took my machine gun detachment so far forward... We were outnumbered five to one. There was a half mile gap on either side of us where the infantry couldn't advance. We stayed there two days and two nights, 130 men with only 16 Lewis guns..." Something catches Nick's eye. As they passed both Jesse and Nick saw Myrtle pumping gas outside Wilson's Garage.
"...When the infantry came up at last they found the insignia of 3 German divisions among the piles of the dead." SCREEECHHH! Gatsby slams to halt at the train crossing! All three of the mens' heads lurched forward, while Jack held himself against the car's dashboard.
"I was promoted to Major and every Allied government gave me a decoration; even Montenegro! Little Montenegro down on the Adriatic Sea." A medal is suddenly in Jack's lap. "Here! That's the one from Montenegro. It looks authentic. Turn it!"
"Major Jay Gatsby. For Valor Extraordinary." Jack reads the metal.
"That's right." Gatsby says excitedly. A photograph soon joins the medal. "Here's another thing that I always carry. A souvenir of my Oxford days; the man on my left is now the Earl of Doncaster." Jack looked at the photograph. There were young men in blazers loaf in front of Oxford College. Among them Gatsby stands with a cricket bat in hand.
"What could I say...? This photograph is undoubtedly authentic. Could it all be true?" The gate lifts. And as Gatsby peels out, towards New York, he continues...
"But don't take my word for it. At lunch, I'm going to introduce you all to one of New York's most distinguished businessmen; my friend, Mr. Meyer Wolfsheim, who will confirm all I've told you, and vouch for my good character..." Gatsby weaves between the pylons of the elevated highway.
"I'm sure that's not necessary..." Jack says, then hands the picture and metal to both Nick and Jesse, who then examines the picture and metal closely. Gatsby wheels to Jack, smiling with charming intensity.
"Oh but it is though...! You see, I thought you ought to know something about my life. I... I don't want you to think I'm just some... some nobody. You see, old sport, I'm going to make a very big request of you today."
"A big request?" Both Jack and Nick asked., while Jesse eyes the two men.
"Yes. Yes... Miss Baker will explain everything when you take her to tea this afternoon."
"Jordan...? What's she got to do with it?" Nick says, completely caught off guard.
"Oh, I assure you it's nothing underhand. Miss Baker's an honest sportswoman; she'd never do anything that wasn't alright..." RRIIIRRRAA! A shrieking police siren! Both Jesse and Nick turned behind. Before Gatsby can continue, a motorcyle cop pulls alongside.
"Pull over! Pull over to the curb!" the cop says, pointing towards the curbside.
"All right, old sport! Alright." Without slowing, Gatsby takes a card from his pocket... Jack looked at his cousin with astonishment.
"Right you are... Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. Excuse me!" The cop peels off; and the Duesenberg, that also carried three mystified men, rockets towards the Queensboro Bridge!
"One of your old Oxford pals?" Nick asked finally.
"Well... actually, I was able to do the Commissioner a favor once; he sends a Christmas card every year. I imagine he'll be at lunch too..." Gatsby laughed. While they crossed the bridge Nick turns to see: A Rolls Royce in which two stylish African American men and a woman haughtily quaff champagne. They are driven by a chauffeur. An orchestral melody surges... Gatsby's car along with the three men shoots into Manhattan, through Times Square and beneath the famous advertisement of the man in the Arrow shirt. Jesse was reminded once more, of taking his date here for the first time. He passed a building where earlier, he was dropped off by his nephew, which felt like it happened a long time ago now. Somewhere a sweaty grind of music shakes the air. On stage a pianist, while a professor bangs out a sizzling tune!