Summary

In Chapter 5, Pete and Harry are heading to the house their mother, Miriam, shares with her boyfriend David. The siblings are meeting David for the first time. Pete tells Harry he is glad she is “making an effort today” (127). Miriam and David sit in the kitchen preparing for the arrival of their guests. David asks Miriam if she thinks her children will like him, and she assures him that they will.

The novel then includes details about David’s life. As a young teen, David took a job at an optometrist’s office after his father had left him and his mother. He worked at the office for many years until his mother died of an undiagnosed brain tumor and left him a sum of money he did not know she had. After his mother died, David found that...