Summary

The woman and Pete sit at a table with the son in the visiting room of the institution. The son sets the book aside and tries to smile. The narration describes the son’s eyes as bearing the inherent sweetness with which he was born, although his illness now can cause fits of rage. He has a haphazard haircut, as if a staff member performed the haircut quickly so as not to have the scissors near the son for a long period of time. The son asks Pete where Pete has been, but Pete merely evades the question. The son asks Pete if Pete misses the son and the woman; Pete does not answer. The son then asks, “Do you think of me when you look at the black capillaries of the trees at night?” (152). Pete says that he supposes he does, and that...