When he sees his brother gardening with two ridiculous hats on in broad daylight, Colin worries about his him. Ross has a developmental disability, and the first job he has been able to hold down in a year — a landscaping position at the school where Colin teaches — is in jeopardy. Later that day, Colin tells his mother, Sylvia, about the hats. Flighty yet fiercely protective of her younger son, she dismisses it as a mark of his "mechanical genius." He then drives back to his house, which he and Glenna, his wife, fix up for their baby daughter, Lynnette. Ross loves cars. He spends the whole afternoon working with Glenna to fix one up in Colin's garage, which he wants to be his serious, grown-up car. Later in the day, Nancy, their school's overdramatic French teacher, comes over. She call Ross Monsieur les Deux Chapeaux, which is what her class named him when they saw him in the garden. After she plays with Lynnette, she contrives a trip to the store with Colin, during which she tells him to be careful with Ross. The engine he wants to put in the car, she says, is much too heavy. It could cause a fatal crash. That night, Colin and Glenna have Ross, Nancy, Sylvia, and Eddy, the Sylvia's geriatric boyfriend, over for a dinner party in their backyard. At Ross's encouragement, Sylvia tells them the story of the 25th anniversary party she threw herself (her husband had already died). Ross, Colin, and their friends had been playing in the driveway, where they found a gun. They thought that it wasn't loaded, and Colin fired it near Ross, who played dead when he heard the shot. Colin ran away to a dark bridge, horrified at his actions and swearing to protect his brother. Even proof that Ross was alive changed nothing. Afterward, Colin and Glenna clean their kitchen. He tells her about the engine and asks for advice, to which she asks what difference it would make. Glenna seems tired, and Colin assumes she feels apathetic towards the accommodation of Ross.