At school, Miss Barks meets Demon and explains he will have supervised visits with Mom, and any return home must wait until Mom completes rehab and passes drug tests. Stoner remains an obstacle they must “learn to get along” with. When Demon reports Tommy’s mistreatment and Swap-Out’s mismatched placement, Miss Barks says she can’t act because those boys are with another agency. She bans visitors to the farm but will transport Demon to visits; he refuses her offer to retrieve clothes, choosing self-reliance.

Life at Creaky’s remains squalid: vermin in the kitchen, spoiled food that Creaky forces them to eat, and nights of scratching and unrest. Demon, Tommy, and Swap-Out form a rough tribe centered on Fast Forward’s charisma. Seeking belonging, Demon draws nightly cartoons—elevating Fast Forward to “Fast Man” and lampooning Creaky as “Creak Evil”—winning praise that becomes the highlight of the boys’ days.

During supervised McDonald’s visits, Miss Barks observes while Mom boasts of a better, Stoner-funded rehab and pledges sobriety, making Demon her “reason” to stay clean. Demon feels this as pressure and doubts. He tells her about the filth and threats at the farm but hides his own drug use. He resolves to stay emotionally cold to protect himself.

On a workday pulling old fence, Demon spots Mr. and Mrs. Peggot and Maggot visiting Creaky’s. Mr. Peg and Creaky bond over kin and farming histories while Mrs. Peggot tries to clean and offers ham biscuits. They haven’t coordinated with DSS; they urge Demon to keep praying. Fast Forward arrives and meets them, and Demon briefly views the Peggots through Fast Forward’s lens.

After the Peggots leave, supper prep starts. Creaky asks about Tommy, and Demon realizes with a jolt that he left Tommy up in the field beside huge barbed-wire rolls hours earlier. Knowing Tommy’s trusting nature, Demon understands the boy likely waited exactly where told, sharpening the guilt and urgency.