Felix Cooper and his girlfriend, Grace, wake up and talk about small things, like a mermaid from Grace’s collection of princess figurines that has fallen from a shelf. Grace bothers Felix, who works part-time, about not having made a “list of things he wanted from the universe” (115). She leaves, and Felix goes to see his father, Lloyd. When he arrives at Lloyd’s messy, decrepit home, he is offered marijuana but refuses (135). Felix has brought Lloyd a book about the Garvey House, a housing project where Lloyd lived when he was younger. They reminisce about old times, and on page 37, they find a picture of Lloyd. On his way out, Felix runs into Lloyd’s neighbor, Phil Barnes, who talks about how complicated families are and about how important nature is.

There is a brief flashback to when Grace and Felix first met, at a bus stop, which clarifies that he had a drug problem and is now recovering.  

Felix meets a man, Tom Mercer, and they go to look at an old, damaged MG Midget that Tom is selling. On the way, they talk about Felix’s past work in the film industry and Tom’s marketing job.