Gene lives with his wife, Karen, and their son, Frankie, in modern-day Cleveland. He used to be an alcoholic who’d left behind another wife, Mandy, and their son, DJ, at the height of his bad habits in Nebraska. After getting in a car crash while driving drunk, he reformed his ways, moved to Cleveland, and never saw Mandy or DJ again. Although he feels guilty about the people he left behind, he also is endlessly grateful that he’s gotten a second chance. Frankie starts screaming in the middle of the night, every night, causing Gene to wake up and stay awake until the following morning. During those restless periods, Gene thinks about drinking again, as well as about the times that he abused and assaulted DJ and Mandy. To calm himself down, he imagines that DJ and Mandy died long ago. His current wife, Karen, doesn’t know that he used to have a son, and she has no idea what’s plaguing him in the middle of the night. She becomes suspicious. She confronts Gene after a drunk man named DJ calls the house, saying that he expects to see Gene soon. Gene vows that he hasn’t been drinking, but Karen doesn’t believe him. Gene goes to sleep that night and has a dream that DJ and he are at a bar. In the dream, DJ blames Gene for killing him and promises to seek his revenge. When Gene wakes up, the upstairs floor of his house is on fire. Karen and Frankie were both burned to a crisp in the disaster. Gene screams out in terror.