Summary

Conway meditates on his present moment, thinking that the day is “determined to conceal its proper cause” from him (142). Conway realizes that his thoughts are the same that “consumed [his] father” in the last year of his life, the year after his wife, Onnie, died (143). Conway describes how his father let himself go after his mother died. At one point, Conway’s father swore he saw Onnie’s ghost. Conway’s father would not let Conway take care of his estate, and Conway’s heart broke “for this man who had been the hero of [his] life… but [now] could see no good in anything anymore, not even his own son” (147).

Conway remembers that after his mother’s death, his father bought a tractor in order to start a new business. The tractor did not work for Conway’s father, and Conway...