- A poem describes Gram spending a night crying in front of the painting of Lennie's mother, saying, "I'm sorry."
- In the poem, Lennie thinks something that she knows is terrible. She thinks Gram should be sorry for letting both her mom and Bailey leave her.
- School's out, and Lennie paints a whole picture of how miserable each of the Walkers are. Gram has been following Lennie, trying to get her to pack Bailey's things and crying when she's in the shower; Lennie's daydreaming about kissing boys; and Uncle Big has been trying to resurrect bugs with his pyramid replicas.
- Joe Fontaine knocks at the door.
- Lennie's first reaction is to make everyone hide—she's not sure she can handle company—but Gram opens the door and invites Joe in.
- Joe comments on the garden, which gets Uncle Big going on the garden's passionate effects on everyone who smells Gram's roses. Gram gives Joe a tour.
- They sit down to breakfast and Joe asks about the Lennie plant.
- Uncle Big tries to explain, which makes the Walkers burst into much-needed laughter.
- After breakfast, Joe and Lennie go outside, where Joe asks again if Lennie will play music with him.
- Turns out he knows Marguerite, Lennie's former clarinet instructor.
- Lennie admits that she blew the first chair audition on purpose.
- Joe doesn't think her admission is a huge deal, which surprises her. He asks her again to play, and she says, "maybe sometime" (9.96).