Jack arrives in South Carolina. His brother Dallas picks him up from the airport and they drive to the hospital where their mother, Lucy, is receiving chemotherapy treatments. Jack has conflicting emotions about returning home, which he expresses in tense conversations with his brothers.

At the hospital, Jack meets his new stepfather, Dr. Jim Pitts, for the first time. Jack’s other brothers, Tee and Dupree, are there as well. Their mother is in a coma, and Jack is shocked by how frail she looks.

Dallas tells Jack that they had to put their father, who has an alcohol addiction, “in the drunk tank” at the local jail, “just to dry out. He’s taken the news about Mom real hard” (124).

The next morning, the brothers meet at the hospital again. They are joined by their father, Johnson Hagood McCall, who shows up drunk and is resentful and unkind toward Dr. Pitts. The group is also joined by Jack’s youngest brother, John Hardin. John Hardin has schizophrenia, and the brothers worry because he hasn’t received his monthly medication.

Late in the afternoon, the brothers find their dad passed out in an empty hotel room, having consumed an entire bottle of vodka.