Bill Delgado returned to college as part of a plea agreement for blackmailing a crooked construction superintendent. There he met Trigger Hampton, the author of a work in progress: "Theory of the Vacuum." The theme of his novel was that nature abhors a vacuum. It was about a plumber in Baltimore named Victor.

The day they became acquainted Trigger Hampton, whose "real" name was Flint Dupree, carried his motorcycle helmet and a book entitled "The Intellectual Tradition of the West: Volume Two." Bill was surprised to find someone who was writing a novel and already had a pen name.

To support himself while in school Bill Delgado worked in a battery factory that was next to Busch Gardens. He was tormented by the stark contrast between the lead, sulfuric acid, and assembly line of the battery factory and the tranquil existence of the animals on the fake African setting.

Bill lived on the back porch of a rambling, old house that was rented to Wallace Graham, a black artist from Trinidad. Wallace Graham was a brooding and moody genius. Captain Roy, a Vietnam veteran, lived in the house also. Captain Roy was a gunner on a helicopter in Vietnam. They lived in the house that was filled with self-portraits and island scenes until Wallace Graham got angry at a kitten that bit him. He was ready to cut the cat in half with a long-bladed knife.

Trigger Hampton had no need to support himself. He was like one of the animals on the fake African savannah. His mother owned half of Virginia according to him. He was waiting around to inherit his way into the landed gentry. Earning a degree and then going to graduate school were diversions until that occurred. Other diversions were his penchant for strong drink and drugs. He always had a bottle of George Dickel nearby. Along the way to his degree Trigger Hampton lost the one copy of his novel when he moved to a house that was close to Ellie Windows, his married girlfriend.

Before leaving Wallace Graham's house, Bill met Spirit who was a friend of Captain Roy's ex-girlfriend. Spirit was a woman with three kids who swore she was a big cat in a previous life. She invited him to a dinner that was capped off with some special brownies donated by another one of her suitors. Bill ate all the brownies and then drove to a pub. By the time he got to the pub he was tripping. The occupants of the pub were none other than God and the dead authors of his undergraduate degree. He bought drinks for the house before he was kicked out of the pub.

When he couldn't pay for his cab, the driver took Bill to his parents' house. For the first time in his life Bill told his father that he loved him. However, he acted so strangely he ended up as a patient on Two North.

After a cursory conversation with Dr. Whitfield, Bill was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Two North was part of a teaching hospital so Bill was assigned to a young resident who was training to be a gynecologist.

The only way to get discharged from the hospital was to be voted out by the other patients and the staff. Among the patients was Jack Parks who was hospitalized for driving backwards on a one way street. He had a theatrical background and wanted to do something impressive so he could get out of the hospital in time for carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

Jack Parks enlisted Bill Delgado and Trigger Hampton as he put on a production of "Oedipus Rex." Jocasta, the wife and mother of Oedipus, was played by Jan, the Colonel's daughter, who also was a patient after ending a disastrous relationship with another king, King Louie, the lead vocalist in a roadside band. She and Bill renewed their friendship from their meeting. Bill's love for her had never subsided.

Throughout Bill's tenure there, the music from "Hair," popularized by The Fifth Dimension, played constantly in the dayroom as the patients occupied their time with Crazy Eights.

Jan and Bill are both voted out at the same general meeting of staff and patients. Their marriage ceremony follows in the television room.