Chapter 5, Slip Away Summary and Analysis

Pelzer returns to his childhood home and finds the once immaculate home is now dirty and smelly. His mother reacts with much drama and emotion over his father's death; in doing so, she attempts to make the situation about her. Pelzer begs his mother to visits his father, but she insists that she gave up on her marriage long ago.

Kevin, Pelzer's youngest brother, fails to recognize him and gives him a full tour of the house. Pelzer notices that his mother displays no pictures of himself or his father.

Back at his foster mother's house, Pelzer calls his mother's family to inform them of his father's situation. He discovers that his mother never told her own mother. In this first recorded interaction with his grandmother, Pelzer reveals that she acts in much the same irrational and...