Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Toph is finally old enough to stay with a babysitter. The current babysitter is a young Scottish man Beth finds through a notice at her school. When Dave leaves, he feels great relief. However, that relief turns to fear for Toph. Dave quickly begins to imagine the babysitter killing Toph. Dave pushes these thoughts to the back of his mind when he arrives at the club. A group of Dave's friends from his hometown in Illinois have also moved to California and all migrated to the San Francisco area. It is these friends Dave met at the club. Annoyed by numerous questions regarding Toph, Dave tells one of the girls an elaborate story about Toph shooting a classmate and running away. Then Dave leaves before the girl can tell the story to anyone else.

Dave is lonely, so he goes in...