Tex flees the school after finding out the truth about Pop, where he runs into Lem again and asks for a ride. Lem says he must meet with his supplier and Tex agrees to go along. Tex continues to think about what he will do and where he will go while on the way and he does not intend to go back home. They arrive at an apartment complex, where Lem engages in a conversation with a man who seems perturbed. Tex is distracted as he contemplates his predicament and wounded feelings. As the conversation grows more heated, Tex decides to leave, annoyed by Lem’s stoned behavior. The man begins to scream that Tex is a “narc,” acting frenzied. He pulls a gun and points it at Tex, preventing him from leaving. Tex, enraged by his own situation, acts brazenly, rushing at the man and pulling the gun away from him—but not before he shoots the gun. Tex threatens him with the gun, but Lem begs him to reconsider. He and Lem leave, and Tex reveals that he has been shot.

Lem is afraid to take him to a hospital, so they stop at a pay phone outside of a grocery store.