How It All Goes Down
- The wallpaper man arrives, and Dolores describes him as "Howdy Doody on drugs" (2.11.1), so he must be safe to be in the house alone with.
- She decides to visit Mr. Pucci, but when she looks him up in the phone book (yes, people actually used those things), he's kind of far away.
- The wallpaper man has to go pick up some more supplies, so he offers to give her a lift; her weight tilts his truck on the drive over.
- He drops her off at Mr. Pucci's house, but another man answers the door. He is wearing "cutoffs and a blue-and-white striped tank top" (2.11.33), and his name is Gary; he's Mr. Pucci's "roommate" (2.11.51).
- Dolores tries to let them know she's totally okay with this: "If you and Gary are homos, it's fine with me" (2.11.71), she says, but she isn't exactly the best ally.
- He tries to give her encouragement about college, but all she does is argue with him.
- Mr. Pucci drives her home, and she considers writing letters of apology to him and Gary.
- When she arrives, the wallpaper man is meditating in the backyard so Dolores snaps at him, telling him that she's not paying him to meditate.
- He lets her know that he's getting paid for the job, not by the hour, so he can om all he wants to.
- They finally introduce themselves: His name is Larry Rosenfarb.
- Dolores actually likes him, so they decide to have his wife, Ruth, and sixteen-month-old daughter, Tia, over for dinner.
- They make dinner, drink some wine, and engage in some "reefer madness" (2.11.167).
- They dance around the kitchen after dinner, like a stoner version of Soul Train.
- Larry and Ruth have a little midnight delight while Dolores is pretending to be asleep nearby, listening.
- The next morning, Larry finishes the wallpapering fast while Ruth makes homemade peppermint shampoo and tells Dolores her hair is beautiful. They want to leave soon, though, to get to Woodstock.
- They high-tail it out of there in a rose-tinted cloud of peace signs just before Grandma gets home.