The protagonist, David Axelrod, reflects on his past, particularly on August 12, 1967, when he was 17. That day, he walks the streets of Chicago to the home of his 16-year-old girlfriend, Jade Butterfield. Jade’s father, Hugh, bans David from the house for 30 days due to Jade’s falling grades, so he peers through the window and observes Jade’s parents, Ann and Hugh, and her brothers, Keith and Sammy.

Desperate to be allowed back into the house, David decides to set the papers on the Butterfields’ front porch on fire, hoping that he could then rescue the family and earn their gratitude. He leaves a small fire on the porch, runs a few blocks away, and then walks back to the Butterfields to create the plausible scenario that he had stumbled upon the fire during his walk. However, when he returns, the fire has grown exponentially and begins to engulf the house with the Butterfields still inside.

David bangs on the door and pulls Sammy outside when it opens. He tells Hugh the house is on fire, but no one moves with any sense of urgency.