Iggy takes Max and his father down a back alley to another apartment whose door has been “busted in.” He explains that it belongs to an “old bat” who is away visiting her sister for the holidays. When Iggy leaves, Kenny Kane sits Max down so they can talk “man to man.”

Kenny tells Max he understands that “a boy who don’t know his own father might be dumb enough to run away.” He then ties Max’s feet and hands, looping the end of the rope around his own waist so he will be alerted if Max should try to escape. Kenny then goes to sleep, advising Max that he should do the same, but a little while later, he wakes Max to assert again that he “never killed anybody.” He then asks his son if Grim and Gram had given him the presents and letters he sent over the years. Max, of course, has not received anything, and Kenny uses this as proof that Grim and Gram hate him “on account of [his] appearance, and because he wasn’t good enough for their precious daughter.” Max’s father goes on about the injustices that have been done to him, and he swears on a Bible that he did not murder Max’s mother. After this conversation, Killer Kane goes back to sleep, but Max lies awake until the sun comes up, trying not to think about “things [he doesn’t] want to remember.”

In the morning, Loretta Lee comes over with a box of pizza. Kenny is clearly edgy and tells her to put the box down and get Iggy. Loretta looks at Max, who is still trussed up, then leaves through the back of the apartment.

When Loretta is gone, Kenny tells Max that they “can’t eat anything touched by her dirty hands.” They search the cupboards and end up feasting on cornflakes and water. Killer Kane tells Max that this is only “a temporary situation” and outlines plans that will allow them to “live like kings if [they] play [their] cards right.” Kenny plans to get a bus and masquerade as “The Reverend Kenneth David Kane.” According to his plan, he and Max will tour the country, telling people his story—that of “a bad man who has redeemed himself.” Cynically counting on the gullibility of the good-hearted populace, Kane figures they will collect a lot of donations because “folks will give to a man of God.”

Suddenly the blue lights of a cop car start flashing against the curtains. Killer Kane grabs Max by the neck and shoves him to the floor. The car eventually goes away, but Iggy comes into the room and announces that the police had come looking for Max. When Kenny demands suspiciously how they had known to come to Iggy’s place, Iggy nervously tells him that “it was that crippled midget kid . . . they had him out in the car.” Max then is forced to tell his father about how he and Freak found Loretta’s purse, and Iggy reminds Kenny that Freak “belongs to Gwen,” who had been a friend of Max’s mother.

Killer Kane shoves Iggy into a chair and begins to plan how to escape the police. After thinking, he tells Iggy to get him a firearm and a vehicle for transportation. Iggy sneaks a look at Max “like he’s trying to tell [him] something,” then leaves hurriedly, “walking backward out of the room.”