The narrator returns home and finds his son asleep on the couch. He asks his son why he is so quiet, and the boy says that he is tired. He tells the narrator that he has been working hard, and that if he acted like this, he would want to kiss him. The narrator wants to know why he has not eaten, and he tells the boy that he forgot to put his books away. The boy explains that he applied for a one-year leave of absence from the university because of his father's debt and because he needed to take care of some other business. He wants to return to the university so that he can take care