Louisa and Ted arrive in his hometown, but he feels anxious, like a stranger there. They walk through the churchyard, and Ted touches a stone. While they walk, Ted thinks about that summer and how Joar had decided that killing his father was his only choice. Ted is haunted by the tragic head injury and the sickening sound it must have made. They walk to a house, knock on the door, and Joar answers.

That day 25 years ago while visiting the art museum, the artist told Joar he didn’t think he’d win the competition, but Joar said all that matters is that he believed he deserved to be in the museum. The artist farted, and everyone jumped out of the car, getting soaked by the sprinklers. Joar grabbed his backpack and noticed that the knife was missing.

Now, Joar looks aged and worn out. He and Ted exchange playful jabs about their changed appearances. Louisa peppers Joar with questions, wondering about the ramp into his house and his ankle bracelet. Joar has been in prison and is now on house arrest. 

Ted asks Joar if he wants to see the painting, but Joar isn’t ready. He says he understands why Kimkim liked Louisa. Kimkim was Joar’s nickname for Kim, the artist’s real name. When Joar first met him, he repeated his name, which is where the nickname came from. Joar explains it was the name he used “when he was with us, when we were his” (367). Ted entrusts Joar with telling Louisa the end of the story.

Joar tells Louisa that on that day 25 years ago, he realized that his mother had taken his knife. He ran home, KimKim and Ted following, and his father’s fellow dock workers were outside the house. Joar reflects to Ted and Louisa on the fact that all of these workers knew that his father was abusive but did nothing about it. Ted also remembers the day.

Joar recalls that he ran past the dock workers into the house and upstairs, thinking that his mother had killed his father, but he found his mother lying on the floor of his room, crying. She tells him that his father had been hit in the head by a construction crane and was dying in the hospital. His mother said that she had taken Joar's knife because she’d planned to kill Joar's father that night. With his father’s impending death, Joar felt that they were “free.”

Joar tells Louisa that his father didn’t die. Joar’s father’s work friends came to the hospital, and Joar could tell they felt guilty for knowing about the abuse and never intervening. Kimkim’s father apologized to Joar for being a “coward,” and Joar responded by telling him that he owed the same apology to Kimkim. Joar’s friends waited for him in the hospital chapel, discussing the existence of God. Kimkim, who was drawing, said that he believed in God. They left the chapel, and the artist left his drawing behind. Kimkim’s dad found it.

Joar's father never recovered from the head injury. Joar’s mother faithfully cared for his father, freer once he was incapable of physical abuse. Her actions didn’t surprise Joar, as she was already a hero to him.

Louisa says that’s a “good ending” for the story, but it’s not the end. Ted leaves to find the person who will help Louisa sell the painting. Joar wonders what she will do with her newfound wealth, but Louisa doesn’t know. Joar says she is the “happy ending,” and she must make her life count from here on. Louisa gives Joar the sketch she made of Kimkim. He takes her onto the roof and teaches her a game he and Ali once played, where they pick a house and imagine their life living there. Louisa points to a pink house and says she and Fish would live there.

Joar and Ali’s relationship didn’t work out because she thought they were too “broken.” He never loved anyone else, and his mother and father moved in with him so he could help with the care. His father was different after the accident, and Joar came to love him over time. After he died, Joar’s mother met a wonderfully caring man, married him, and moved away. Joar later went to jail because he beat a man whom he saw being violent toward his wife. While he was in prison, Ted was stabbed, and the artist got sick. Louisa is ready to hear the end of the story, so Joar begins.

One night, Joar and Ali went for a drive alone, and she told him she and her father were moving. She kissed him and they fell asleep together for the night. Ali drove them home and almost wrecked the car. Joar and all his friends cleaned the apartment for when Joar’s mom came home from the hospital. 

They collected driftwood from the beach to frame the painting, but when they reread the newspaper article, they discovered that the contest was for children under age 13. Everyone cried because they knew they were no longer kids.

Joar wouldn’t give up his plan to get KimKim’s painting into the museum, so they stole his father’s car, drove to the museum, and broke in. They intended to remove a painting and replace it with Kimkim’s, but they accidentally set off an alarm, and the security guard caught them. The guard thought they were stealing the painting, but they pointed to the figures in the painting, asserting it was them. The guard agreed not to call the police if they could get an adult to corroborate that the painting wasn’t stolen. None of their parents were available, but Joar knew someone to call. 

In the present, that person is driving up to Joar’s house.

Christian’s mother climbs onto the roof with Louisa and Joar. She and Louisa share about their losses and how Christian’s mom has never gotten over his death. Christian’s mom knows art dealers who will purchase the painting, but Louisa fears becoming a public spectacle. 

Christian’s mother continues telling the story where Joar left off. Kimkim called her, and she rushed to the museum, telling the guard that the painting belonged to the children. She cried when she saw the skulls with the artist’s signature. The guard let them leave, with Christian’s mom carrying the painting.

Christian’s mother called Kimkim and his art “a gift to the planet” (411), and they all went to Ted’s house so she could see his sketches. Christian’s mom and Tom’s mom became friends, and Tom’s mom cooked them all lasagna. The friends wrote their names on rocks and buried them near their house to commemorate their friendship. Christian’s mom took KimKim’s sketches to the art school and persuaded them to let him in. His mother wasn’t well and never fully supported him, but his father was there to help. By selling their belongings and with the help of his friends at the dock, they managed to raise the funds for Kimkim to attend art school.

Ali and her dad moved to a new place near the sea, and Ali took up surfing. Not long after, she drowned and was never found. The friends created a grave for her in town so they would have a place to mourn. Both Kimkim’s parents died within a short time, and after he returned home to bury them, he never returned. Joar tried many times to visit him, but he was struggling with substance misuse and didn’t want Kimkim to see him like that. However, they spoke on the phone before his death. 

Back in the present, Ted notices that Louisa has given Joar her sketch, and he wants it back. Christian’s mom stares at the sketch and says it’s “incredible.”

After all his friends moved away, Ted visited Christian’s mom because she had a library full of books. This is what inspired him to become a teacher. 

They all get into the car with Christian’s mother driving. With Louisa’s help, they break into the museum and put Kimkim’s painting on the wall. Louisa asks Ted what he plans to do now, and “[l]ike a dad would,” he says, “We’ll figure out a plan” (426). Christian’s mom has a suggestion for Louisa’s next move.

The news reports on the “reverse heist” and the sudden appearance of C. Jat’s famous painting back in his hometown. The art dealer who sold Ted the painting calls, saying he’s happy the painting is where it should be and that he won’t disclose what he knows about the situation. The conductor tracks down Ted and says he’s sending the ashes by train. He tells Ted to call him, and Ted thinks he will when he is ready. 

Ted, Joar, and Christian’s mom hold a funeral for Kimkim, and Louisa paints wings on his gravestone. Louisa meets neighborhood children drawing with chalk, and she borrows their chalk to decorate every wall in town. On the way home, they imagine where Kimkim, Ali, and Fish would live. Ted says he wants to become a teacher in prison to help kids like his attacker. Joar might start an engine repair business out of his home.

Ted moves back to his hometown, and Christian’s mom gets Louisa into art school, which Ted funds. Ted and Joar visit the museum to see the painting, while Louisa travels the world and becomes a famous artist. She calls Ted in the middle of the night to tell him she met a graffiti artist in an alley, and they’re “one of us” (408). She wants Ted to write a book about his life.