Johnny Hamburger—so named because he's a cook who flips burgers and meat (as well as builds docks)—finds weather news fascinating. Even as a heat wave batters his California town, grapefruit-sized hail pummels the Dakotas. After work, Johnny takes his piece-of-junk car over to Brenda's, his girlfriend's, house. He speaks without thinking and, because of the cocaine coursing through her veins, she erupts. On the way from her place to his burger job, he laments his aimlessness and, consequently, aims for his parents' house, stopping in for a while to speak to his mother. Later, at the burger joint, Johnny finds himself distracted—the thought of grapefruit-sized hail refuses to leave him alone. His long shift and one comment too many from his penny-pinching boss Santos pushes him to quit for good. On the way back to Brenda's, he sees an overturned car by the highway. Panicking, he runs over, sees a woman trapped in the flaming front seat, kicks the window in at great risk to himself, and pulls her out. Both are singed and bruised, but alive all the same. Johnny staggers into Brenda's apartment, cleans himself up, and crawls into bed. Suddenly, as they begin to make love, he hears a peal of thunder outside and knows: somewhere in the sky, despite the heat, a huge ball of ice is forming. He reaches up in the dark to catch it.