More years pass. In the sweltering Chicago summer, Cricket, who has been working as a tile-setter, walks to his new internship. He witnesses a hit-and-run: A man of about 60 strikes a woman with his car, gets out, and flees. Citing his experience drawing figures and cadavers, Cricket gives a detailed description of the driver to the police and expects to be called to help with resolving the case. 

Cricket arrives late to the International Institute for Modern Art (IIMA), a cold and sterile gallery. The receptionist, Rachella, and a supervisor, Millicent, greet him with chilly disdain, with Millicent openly judging his clothing. While waiting for his boss, Warren, Cricket listens to a voicemail from Olympia about an upcoming wedding. Warren finally arrives and assigns Cricket the menial task of sorting three jars of mixed hardware. While Cricket is working on a countertop, Millicent scolds him for potentially damaging the expensive stone. He spends the rest of his first day sorting the nuts and bolts on a piece of cardboard on the floor.

Weeks pass at the gallery. The police never follow up on the hit-and-run, and Cricket’s primary task is now cataloging auction prices from Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogs. The gallery is nearly always empty.