Part I: Section 30 Summary

Kathy's arms are bruised. She feels like she's in a basement from which she can't escape. She stops at a Mexican restaurant (part of an authentic west coast chain) and orders guacamole and one margarita, then another. She decides that Lester will not leave his wife, will continue his life of quiet despair to spare his children from pain. She tells the waitress that her guacamole is too green and orders a third margarita. Knowing that mall restaurants have a three-drink limit, she leaves her young waitress a nice tip and walks out, looking for another restaurant (when she thinks of herself as a daughter, her body "feels too small and filthy to live in"). At a pizzeria, she sits in the back and orders a glass of white wine and then another. She drops a lit match on...