Davey and Alex arrive home to find Julie and Sharon gone. Alex finds a note from Julie that explains that she is “going away for a while” (121) and that Sharon is at Alex’s mother’s house. Alex rushes to pick up Sharon, who is traumatized and thinks that her mother left her because she did something wrong. Alex explains the situation to his kids over dinner, but they are non-responsive, sitting at the table “like little rocks.” Alex wonders if they don’t respond to him because he’s so rarely home. After the kids go to sleep, Alex calls Julie’s parents, who are unaware that she has left. Julie’s mother accuses Alex of having “done” (123) something to Julie and her father encourages Alex to file a missing person’s report. However, Alex knows Julie is not missing, just gone. 

The next morning, Alex struggles to get the kids ready for school and out the door. Their breakfast is ruined, they miss the school bus, and Alex arrives at work very late. He has a message from Hilton Smyth and calls him back. Smyth yells at him over yet another late order and demands that the order be shipped by the end of the day.