In Denver, Sal visits the house where Chad King lives with his parents. Though Dean and Carlo are in the city, Chad has not yet seen them. Sal realizes that there is an issue between some of his friends, as Chad is no longer talking to either Dean or Carlo. Sal is in the middle of a split between two sections of his friendship group. Dean, the son of a destitute alcoholic who spent many years in juvenile detention, comes from a hugely different background than many of Sal’s other friends. Sal spends a night in Chad’s home, which is cooled by a special fan that Chad’s father invented. 

Sal and a friend named Roland Major stay in an apartment owned by the parents of another friend, Tim Gray. While Roland is also a writer, he doesn’t approve of the bohemian “arty types” (27) he says he increasingly sees everywhere. Sal asks his friends about Dean, but none of them answer his questions. Eventually, Sal receives a call from Carlo, who tells him that Dean is now in a relationship with a woman named Camille. Dean is splitting his time between Camille and Marylou, feeding lies to both women while also having sex with them.