In this chapter, we learn that Bellarus's mother has disappeared, and that she was kidnapped by someone who tried to kill her son. The boy's father, Fontine, tries to explain to the boy that his mother's disappearance wasn't his doing, but the boy refuses to believe him. He wants to know what happened to his mother, and when he doesn't know, he asks why he hasn't left the boy alone. He tells the boy to "be proactive" and make things happen for the boy instead of letting them happen to him. "It's time," he says, "we got proactive" . He says he's not on anyone's side, but he knows something about the boy, and he wants to do something about it. He asks the boy if he wants a flywire, and the boy says he wouldn't want to "waste his days and nights" if he had one. He also says that he'd rather have a "spongy ass" than a "bunch of assholes" like the boy. "What do you want, fontine," he asks. "You know, you were supposed to have come here, anymore" , the boy replies. "That was part of th' deal , now" : "I didn't really have a lot to choose from, stumpy, anymore ." He says that someone tried to murder the boy and they believed it was his mom who had disappeared. "that was deliberate," the boy answers, "to play on th s sympathies ." "Well , s/he/she's disappeared," he replies, "it aint like that." "The only thing i gotta go on," he adds, "is a newly implanted flywire." "Damn , these dudes are fast