The chapter opens with the announcement that the girls will be taking the midterm exam in a few days. The narrator is surprised that the boys are so confident in their studies. He wonders if the boys were always so good at studying. He also wonders if his father used to be as wild as he is now. He wants to know how his dad used to like pictures. He knows that the picture of him in the book is still there, but he wants to get it back as soon as possible. He tells the boys to hurry up and get the book back. He says he'll give it back if he pierces his ears. He asks the boys if they have written poems in his book, and the boys say they have. He then asks if the poems were written when it was too far past his bedtime. The boys reply that they were written one night when he was sleeping too late. He goes on to say that he needs time to prepare himself for the exam, and he wants the girls to know that he's preparing himself for it. He doesn't want to pierce his own ears, he says, because it will hurt like hell. He's not sure if he should just make up the poems or not. He decides to show the girls the pictures of himself in his books. He thinks it's a good opportunity to vent his grudge against his brother. He realizes that the boy is a lot older than he is, so he thinks he might be related to him. He adds that he thinks the girls might not have seen the pictures in a while, and so he plans to show them to them too.