Summary

Pete says that he would like a glass of straight vodka. The woman produces the bottle of vodka from the freezer, and then she looks at the photos on the front of the refrigerator. Some of the photos show the son as a happy baby or as a happy young child. One photo shows the son at ten years old; in that photo, he looks “vaguely brooding and fearful, though there was light in his eyes” (155). One photo shows the son as a teenager with his arm around Pete. Another photo shows the son as a baby being held by his father. The woman thinks about how one must accept both the joy and the pain in life. The woman asks if Pete wants ice in his drink, and Pete says that he does not. The woman pours two glasses of vodka, and she...