Summary

After the fatal accident, István is sent to a youth detention center far from his home. The facility is grim and tightly controlled, filled with boys who use strength and intimidation to create their own hierarchy. At first, István resists joining fights, but he soon learns that silence and stillness can make him a target. His natural physical power and quiet temperament eventually earn him a wary respect. The institution’s routines—head counts, metal trays, lights out—blur the days together, and István measures time by the changes in season visible through the barred windows.

Inside the center, István’s thoughts drift repeatedly to his mother. Her rare visits are brief and formal, overshadowed by guards’ presence and her visible exhaustion. She never reproaches him but seems unsure how to speak to him anymore. Between visits, he remembers...