After separating from his wife Inez, Lloyd moves into a tiny apartment in the top floor of a house. The apartment has a tiny kitchenette, but Lloyd doesn’t keep much food. One morning, he eats a doughnut and champagne for breakfast, only realizing later that he would have once found this odd. Lloyd’s alcohol abuse was an issue in his marriage, and he rationalizes continuing to drink by only drinking champagne. Two weeks after he moves in, Lloyd is extremely frustrated because he has a blockage in his ear that he cannot clear. Upon hearing Inez’s voice, he quickly hides the champagne in the bathroom. Inez, who is not happy to see him, says they need to talk about some things, including money.

Lloyd tells her about his ear, a problem that once necessitated a visit to the doctor, but he can’t afford a doctor. With no Q-tips or cooking oil in the house, Inez attempts to fashion a makeshift cotton swab out of a nail file and toilet paper. This worries Lloyd, but Inez replies, “We’ll try this first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else. That’s life, isn’t it?” (109) When Lloyd asks if that statement has multiple meanings, Inez denies that it does.