Summary

The boys woke up to the sounds of Paps digging in the back yard. Dressed in army camouflage hand-me-downs, they went to investigate. They saw that he was digging a large trench, shaped like a grave. Paps asked for help, and when they came near, he pulled them in, where they laughed and flailed in the dirt Paps took them inside and went to pick up Ma from work, but Ma came home drunk hours later, wanting to know where their father had gone. They showed her the trench as she got undressed from her work clothes. Ma ordered them to take naps, but instead they watched upstairs as she climbed into the trench. It started to rain. When she came back in, they toweled the mud off her. The rain tapered off, and Manny went out to the trench, the Joel. The...