Mary, a woman who works at a mental health association, introduces a mentally disabled boy, Dennis, to a middle-aged man who she encourages to employ Dennis at his landscaping company. He agrees and gives Dennis the responsibility of mowing lawns for their clients. As they spend more time together, the man begins to assume the role of Dennis’s father figure. While out on a drive, the man sees Dennis walking along the highway. He offers Dennis a ride home, however, the boy refuses and tries to hit and kick the man on the way home. Later, he learns from Mary that Dennis had a traumatic childhood.  While observing the boy, the man notices two things: Dennis copies what everyone else does, and he has little patience. Whenever the mower stops working, Dennis immediately gives up, leaving the man to ask the other boys in the company to finish up Dennis’s work. The boys release their frustration and express their inability to accept Dennis by making fun of him. When Lonnie, one of the boys, goes too far with his teasing, the man threatens to fire him. Lonnie does not show up to work the next day, and the boys stop teasing Dennis.  One day, the man takes Dennis fishing and Mary comes along. At the end of the day, Mary brings alcohol for the man and her to share. The man acts negatively to the alcohol and reveals to Mary that he is part of Alcoholics Anonymous.   Dennis begins hanging out with another person who is also currently staying at the home for the mentally disabled: James Nass. James negatively influences Dennis, and Dennis begins to imitate James’ mannerisms. James begins driving Dennis to work and lurks around the landscaping company, much to the man’s dismay. When Dennis makes an inappropriate comment to one of the company’s clients, the man sends Dennis away for the day. Dennis arrives late for work the next day drunk. The man’s patience and tolerance dry up, and he tells Dennis that this day will be the last day Dennis works for him. Dennis is assigned to weedwack, however, the man is quickly approached by a client who complains that her plant has been cut down by Dennis. He goes to check on Dennis and finds him sitting under a tree. James is weedwacking instead. He kicks James and he responds by swinging the weedwacker at him. The man ducks out of the way and James ends up splitting Dennis’s face from ear to ear. Enraged, the man begins to completely lay waste to James, releasing pent up anger, resentment, and guilt from having accidentally run his own son over during a drunken episode 9 years ago. When the man visits Dennis at the hospital later, he learns from a doctor that half of Dennis’s tongue was cut off when James scratched his face. Mary and the man return to where Dennis and James were last to look for his tongue. By finding the tongue, the man imagines he can repent for having not been able to protect his son all those years ago.