This chapter's epigraph is from the opening lines of Chapter 1 of the novel: "damn it ! . . it's a bit unreliable" . In other words, this chapter is full of unreliable information. It's not just that the ghost picked up by the telephone pole doesn't sound like a female ghost, but also that the guy they met in Chapter 1 is a different color from the one they're talking about in this chapter. This is because he's older than the white teenager they met, and because the other party entered the life of the young man before he turned eighteen years old. This means that before he was able to use his magic, he must have experienced something different from the ordinary people who lived before him. The other party must also have entered his life earlier, which means that his experiences must not have been the same as those of ordinary people. The only reason that mom is locked up is because she's afraid to recall the traumas of her son's disappearance. She's also afraid that she'll only bring more pain to her family by keeping them locked up. The two men are about to eat when they hear the sound of a stone suddenly shining on top of a tree.