Summary

In "Fiction, or 906 Harmony Drive": "Chippin' In," Charlie survived the surgery. However, he was severely weakened. Over the course of several days, he gradually regained his strength. Jake observed Barbara with Charlie, and realized how much she loved him.

Charlie was home and would live, but he "had no appetite for food, for the newspaper, for telephone calls" (203). Life felt empty. He grew depressed. He watched "more TV that you could possibly imagine" (204). Jake sat with him. He remembered playing tricks on him as a child. He still felt he "owed him everything" (207). However, Charlie had also hurt Jake. He remembered one time when Charlie had insulted Jake's writing career.

Then one day, the power went out while they were watching television. Charlie got up abruptly, went outside, and drove away in Jake's rental. He drove around from store...