The chapter opens with the narrator lamenting that he has lost his job. He says that if only his father were alive, no one would bother him anymore. He reminds the reader that he raised his grandson to be like his father. He tells the narrator that his mother was a "peculiar woman" who owed a lot of money to the loan sharks. She was already depressed, but the loan shark she owed almost got her the kid with guits. The narrator says that as long as he lives, the grandson belongs to him. He adds that he did not need to still be on board with the family, as he thought he had a duty to keep his promise.