Rusty-James, a young man experiencing memory loss after a violent youth and a stint in a reformatory, runs into his old friend Steve. They have not seen each other for five or six years. While Rusty-James leads an idle existence, Steve is studying to become a teacher. Steve thinks that they should catch up over dinner, potentially accompanied by their respective girlfriends. Rusty-James is not eager to discuss “the good old days” (6), which he claims to not even remember. When Steve implies that Rusty-James looks like someone familiar, Rusty-James resents Steve for making him “remember everything” (6).

This chapter flashes back to when Rusty-James and Steve were best friends in junior high school. This earlier period constitutes the narrative’s main chronology.

While Steve is studious and cautious, Rusty-James puts on a tough-boy front and is continually getting into fights. They are at a diner named Benny’s Billiards with two other kids, B.J. Jackson and Smokey Bennet, when Rusty-James learns that someone called Biff wants to meet him over “somethin’ [he] said to Anita at school” (7). It is clear that Biff, who invites Rusty-James over to a vacant lot, intends to fight.