- Paterson, at last. Stable boy Marcelo is psyched.
- Aurora's still on this Oak Ridge High thing, though. She keeps pushing the subject, and Marcelo keeps pushing back.
- Turns out this whole regular-high-school thing is the brainchild of Marcelo's dad Arturo. He's the one who wants his son to go to school with the regular kids.
- Luckily, Marcelo has a policy of not speaking out of reverence whenever he enters the Paterson grounds, so he cuts the conversation short.
- Harry, who runs the stable, shows Marcelo the Haflinger pony foal born to a horse named Frieda. Marcelo is instantly in love. (Humans? Hard to love. Ponies? Straight up Marcelo mush.)
- Marcelo names the horse Fritzy (a Prussian name, since Haflingers come from Prussia) while Aurora pulls Harry aside for her second secretive chat of the day.
- Marcelo knows something bad is happening, and on the ride home with Aurora he senses that it's about to come to a head.
- Sure enough, Aurora tells Marcelo that Arturo wants to talk to him that night, and to be open-minded about what his father has to say.
- Marcelo says he'll listen, but Arturo's wasting his breath.
- So Aurora reminds Marcelo that Arturo never liked Paterson, but he's let Marcelo attend since first grade, and he was never keen on Marcelo's obsessive interest, but he's allowed Marcelo to meet with Rabbi Heschel every other week for five years, even though they're Catholic.
- Aurora insists that Marcelo trust that Arturo only wants the best for him, but Marcelo has trouble even comprehending the word "trust."
- Marcelo tells Aurora he'll listen, even though he already knows Arturo is wrong.