Grant shows Denny amusing videos of people on work calls without pants on. Denny then has his second video visit with Toni. She tells Denny that she wants to hire him a top-tier lawyer to replace Bridget, but Denny refuses, stating his loyalty to Bridget and his desire not to hurt her feelings.

After the call, Denny has a session with Dr. Harland, who initiates a video call with Bridget. Denny ducks under the table to check if Dr. Harland is wearing pants, hitting his head in the process. The confusion is cleared up when Grant explains about the videos he showed Denny. Back in his cell, Denny finds a note from Theo, who recounts how he helped George by suggesting someone buy him a doughnut when he was lying in the street.

Angus visits with grim news: Nana-Jo has partial paralysis from her stroke, and George has stopped eating. Distraught over his dog, Denny begins a hunger strike, refusing all meals. After four days, he is weak and ill. In response, Sheriff Becker, an acquaintance of Nana-Jo, authorizes a temporary release so Denny can see his dog. Accompanied by Bridget, Denny goes home and successfully coaxes George to eat.

After the visit with George, Bridget takes Denny to the hospital to see Nana-Jo. He’s frightened of going up to the fourth floor, but he calms down when staff provide a fire-escape ladder. He sits with Nana-Jo, who cannot speak clearly. He updates her on his life, apologizes for their past arguments, and promises to care for her. She communicates non-verbally by squeezing his hand. Denny leaves heartbroken and is returned to jail by the sheriff.

Denny tells Dr. Harland about his involvement in a bank robbery. A man in a mask entered with a gun, locked the doors, and ordered everyone to the floor. The robber forced Denny to close the blinds and then, upon discovering he had forgotten zip ties, made Denny use his own duct tape to bind the other hostages’ hands.

The situation escalated when the bank alarm sounded. The robber held a knife to Denny’s neck and ordered him to empty the remaining cash drawers. Overwhelmed with fear, Denny began singing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” The robber struck him, causing Denny to vomit on the man and the stolen money. As the robber recoiled, police stormed the bank and arrested him. However, a teller mistakenly identified Denny as an accomplice, leading to his own violent arrest. While being subdued, Denny saw an enraged Angus watching from outside the window before he dissociated.

This chapter consists of a short newspaper article about the averted bank robbery in Woodmont. The article reports that Claydon Wheeler, 48, has been arrested and charged with attempted robbery and assault. It clarifies that Denny, initially arrested at the scene, was coerced by Wheeler with a knife and has been cleared of all wrongdoing. The Woodmont police have officially apologized to Denny for the misunderstanding and are now praising him for his role in stopping the crime. Wheeler faces up to 15 years in prison.

The narrative flashes back to Nana-Jo’s birthday, which she shared with the late Papa-Jo. Angus drives Nana-Jo and Denny to the cemetery. They place flowers on the graves of Papa-Jo and Irene, who was a family friend as well as a former client. Nana-Jo expresses concern over Irene’s sister and her intense hatred for Mr. Tesky. Later, friends and family gather for a potluck birthday party for Nana-Jo. That evening, Denny watches a news report about a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando. The story of targeted violence and hatred leaves him feeling sick and deeply disturbed.

Denny tells Dr. Harland that Mr. Tesky tried to kill him twice. He recounts the first incident, when Tesky hit him with his Tesla while Denny was riding his bicycle home. Tesky appeared annoyed by the situation and told police that Denny had veered into the road. Denny insisted Tesky hit him on purpose and accused the officer of being bribed. Overcome with anger at being dismissed, Denny shouted a profanity at Tesky just as Nana-Jo arrived.

A week later, Tesky’s lawyer sent a letter offering to pay for a new bicycle up to $5,000 in exchange for Denny signing a confidentiality agreement and a release of liability. Angus helped Denny use the money to purchase a custom e-trike. That night, after enjoying his new bike, Denny saw another news report about a school shooting. He was deeply shaken by the repeated instances of gun violence.

Bridget informs Denny that Angus has been subpoenaed by the prosecution and can no longer visit. Denny then recounts the events leading up to the DOT awards dinner to Dr. Harland. His supervisor, Lonny, had informed him he was receiving the “Extra Mile Award” at the dinner, where Tesky was the guest speaker. Angus, who was not invited, explained that the award was likely a form of affirmative action because Denny is considered developmentally disabled. Denny became furious at the implication, accused Angus of being jealous, and walked home after a heated argument.

The flashback about the DOT awards dinner continues. Nana-Jo is supposed to accompany Denny but has to rush to Minneapolis after Lydia requires an emergency appendectomy. Angus goes with Denny instead. At the dinner, Tesky gives a speech about integrity. When Denny is called to receive his award, he is too nervous, so Angus accepts it on his behalf. In his speech, Angus praises Denny’s genuine integrity while making pointed remarks about men like Tesky who only feign it, leading to a tense stare-down between Angus and Tesky. As a gift, Denny receives a new iPhone with a year of free service.

The narrative flashes back to the night Denny and Angus attended Lonny’s bachelor party at a strip club. The loud, smoky environment makes Denny dizzy, so he steps outside for fresh air, but the door locks behind him. While he is stranded in the parking lot, two drunk men from an adjacent bar confront and mock him. When Denny becomes overwhelmed and starts singing the Toy Story theme song, the men brutally attack him. Angus rushes out and violently beats one of the assailants, warning him never to go near Denny again.

In the present, Denny tells Bridget and Dr. Harland about a discovery he made on January 2nd. While Nana-Jo was out and Angus was preparing to leave for a vacation, Denny found and read Lydia’s old high school diary. In it, Lydia detailed a secret affair with her basketball coach, whom she called “Hank.” A newspaper clipping included in the diary identified the coach as Tesky. The diary revealed that Lydia became pregnant, and when she told Tesky, he pressured her to have an abortion. Denny was horrified to learn that Tesky was his biological father and had “wanted to kill [him] before [he] even got [him]self born” (218).

The flashback about the diary entry continues. After discovering his biological father’s identity, Denny has a dissociative episode. When he recovers, he confronts Nana-Jo, accusing her of lying to him his entire life. Shocked, Nana-Jo reads the diary and swears she and Papa-Jo never knew Tesky was the father; Lydia had told them it was a boy she met once. Still furious, Denny goes to Angus’s house and accuses him of also being part of the deception. Angus is equally stunned by the news and insists he had no idea. He makes Denny promise not to do anything about the revelation until he returns from his vacation. Denny agrees and stays to watch a movie as Angus leaves.

The flashback continues. The morning after he read Lydia’s diary, January 3rd, Denny finds Nana-Jo bruised. She claims she fell in the bathtub, and he feels guilty that he wasn’t there to help. Their landline is disconnected, isolating them. A day later, a neighbor brings a newspaper revealing Tesky was shot and killed in his home shortly after midnight on January 3rd. While Nana-Jo is at a doctor’s appointment, Denny watches a television program about preventing gun violence by turning in unwanted firearms. Inspired to be “part of the solution” (234), he decides to take Papa-Jo’s old guns to the police station. He devises a plan to transport the firearms and ammunition using his sled.

The flashback continues as Denny gathers Papa-Jo’s guns and ammunition and uses plastic wrap to secure them in his sled. He pulls the sled to the top of Penguin Hill, where he stops to urinate behind his neighbor Mrs. Trout’s garage. Mrs. Trout spots him from her window, and upon learning the sled contains guns, she calls the police and orders Denny not to move. Hearing sirens, Denny panics and flees to the sledding hill. He rides the sled down the icy slope, loses control, and crashes into a tree. The impact shatters the bundle, scattering the firearms across the snow. Dazed and bleeding from a head wound, Denny struggles to his feet as police sirens grow closer.