How It All Goes Down
- Dolores's friend from work, Paula, and her husband, Boomer, invite Dolores and Dante over to their new house.
- Dante hates it because it's a pre-fab house being delivered on a truck and snapped together like a pair of Legos.
- Dolores thinks a house might make Dante and her happy, though, so she starts saving up for one.
- She gets a promotion at work, which helps her save close to five grand.
- One summer night, she tells Dante about her savings and her plans.
- He thinks it's stupid for them to try to buy a house, mainly because he's thinking of trying to write full-time.
- He's sarcastic and cruel and she tells him to stop being mean, but he doesn't.
- The next morning he tells her that he's having a hard time (even though he's on summer vacation) and Dolores tries to convince herself that Dante isn't like her own father: "No couple is happy all the time" (3.23.75), she reasons.
- One day, Dolores comes home and finds out Dante used all her savings to buy a van and go on a three-week road trip to "feed [his] writing" (3.23.95). We have no idea how they'll feed themselves, but whatever, dude.
- Dolores writes Grandma a letter telling her how excited she is about her trip. Seems like she's trying to convince herself more than Grandma, though…
- Dante and Dolores start fighting before the trip even begins, and Dante kicks a dent in the side of the van and threatens to leave her.
- She doesn't want him to leave, so she agrees to have anal sex with him in the van.
- The next day, she has to pay to repair the dent in the van at a repair shop and the dent in her colon by buying first aid cream at the drugstore.
- They finally leave for their trip, where Dolores's job seems to be to drive the van and take pictures of Dante.
- One night, she has the opportunity to read his journal… but (for once) she does the honorable thing and leaves it unread.