III: Unfair Games — Chapter 5

Summary

• Sadie is moving to California with Sam, who is set to get surgery. Dov, her boyfriend, is upset by the move and offers to divorce his wife to marry her. Sadie declines his offer and effectively ends their relationship.
• Sam and Sadie start settling into their new office space in Venice, California.
• Sadie's flight to California is described, upon arrival Marx and Zoe greets her cheerfully.
• She continues reminiscing about her relationship with Sam, and her gratitude for their friendship strengthens.
• Just before Sam’s surgery, Sadie hands him a paperweight as a memento from their past. Sam, in turn, reflects on his pettiness in holding a grudge against Sadie and realizes he feels more than just love for her.
• Before his surgery, Sam examines the paperweight Sadie has given him as he reminisces about their past relationship. He realizes the depth of their friendship and how much all his friends, including Sadie, Marx, and Zoe, care for him.

• The character, Anna, is an actress in Los Angeles who, after a period of unsuccessful auditions, finally gets a callback for a cartoon show. Ultimately, she was rejected for her 'ethnic' voice.
• As she waits for her big break, Anna takes many different classes and helps at her parents' restaurant while auditioning for various roles. Despite the struggle, she's determined to keep going for the sake of her and her son's future.
• Anna is offered three auditions. One is for a touring company of South Pacific, the second for the role of an 'ethnic' maid on General Hospital, and the third is a model/hostess role on a new game show called Press That Button!
• Anna attends the audition for the Press That Button! where she isn't happy about the exploitative process and is uncomfortable with the show host, Chip, and his behavior. Despite her discomfort, Anna needs the job for financial reasons and bears the indignities of the process. She hopes instead to get the role in South Pacific.
• Three days later, Anna's agent informs her that she's been booked on Press That Button!. The role pays well and makes her a minor celebrity within the Korean community. Her likeness is featured on a beer billboard, which makes her father proud.
• In a rented house in Studio City, Anna and her son, Sam, discuss the difficulty of navigating Los Angeles and the possibility of secret, hidden highways in the city, allegedly built by studio heads. As they drive later that night, Anna swerves to avoid a wild dog in the road. As they recover from the surprise, their car is hit by another going at high speed.
• The accident results in severe damage to Anna and Sam. Sam's leg is pinned, and Anna suffers a crushed chest and abdomen. While Sam attempts to help his mother, the other driver approaches, apologizing and asking if anyone is alive.
• The impact of the accident and his mother's death leads to Sam going mute by shock and trauma. His brain obsessively replays different scenarios where his mother could have survived, focusing on the concept of cause and effect and the order of things. The next time Sam talks will be when he meets Sadie Green in the game room.