66 pages 2 hours read

Wally Lamb

I Know This Much Is True

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

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Chapters 22-30

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 22 Summary

Leo picks Dominick up to go fishing. As they drive, he tells Dominick that Ralph has given him some joints and that Leo is considering buying a pound of marijuana from Ralph to sell on campus when school resumes. Dominick wants no part of this plan.

He asks Leo to drive to Dell Weeks’s home to see a car that Dell has offered to sell him. They are surprised when Ralph answers the door. Ralph immediately flees, and while the boys wait for Dell to emerge, Leo browses through the house. He finds gay pornography and suspects that Dell and Ralph may be together; Dominick finds this idea ridiculous.

Dominick negotiates over the car while Leo peppers Dell with questions about Ralph. Dell admits that Ralph has been living with him since Ralph’s mother abandoned him. When Dell refuses to budge on the price of the car, Dominick threatens to report Dell for the incident with Thomas at work. Dell relents, and they settle on a price.

Leo buys some wine after they drive away, and they fish and smoke the joints. Leo is obsessed with the possibility that Ralph and Dell could be lovers and will not stop talking about gay men.