- The phone rings and Sam answers it. It's Hally's mother, calling from the hospital.
- Hally gives her a hard time because she says she's going to bring his father home.
- His mom's credit runs out on the payphone (remember payphones?) and he calls her back. He insists that she put her foot down and not allow his dad to come home with her.
- He threatens that he'll fail all his exams if he has to be taking care of his father, massaging his stump at all hours of the night.
- Hally hangs up and he tells Sam and Willie that he just wants the best for his dad, that the best attention is at the hospital. Uh-huh. Then he tells them to get back to work.
- Sam tries to reason with Hally about his attitude towards his dad. He tries to make him see that his dad probably gets lonely at the hospital and misses his family.
- This just makes Hally even more upset. He tells Sam that life is just a bloody mess, and the fundamental law of the universe is constant disappointment.
- He tells Sam and Willie to do what his mother said and get back to work. No more "nonsense."
- Hally sits down to do his homework, which is to write an essay on a cultural event. He thinks the assignment is a real stinker and bellyaches about it instead of getting to work.