Summary

A month has passed and neither the narrator nor his brother has seen their father. After Janice had given him the money, the only sign of life they still got from him was late at night when he would creep back into the house and lock himself up in the bedroom. As the bills pile up the brother says they need to call their mother to come help them, but the narrator, still driven by a desire to protect his father, resists. The father begins bringing home a woman at night. One night she knocks on their bedroom door and asks the narrator to “Be my eyes” (85). The narrator explains to her what this means, and they both keep lookout. He tells her he is worried about their father, and she says he only ever talks about his boys.

The narrator meets up with...