Chick remembers his first day of college, when his mother drove him to campus. She is happy and proud he has received a scholarship, though she is less enthusiastic about the fact that it is for baseball. She feeds him a huge breakfast, and Chick feels awkward because she has dressed up and insisted that he do the same. His mother is extremely excited about the opportunities that await him at college, opportunities that were not available to her, but he is uncomfortable and increasingly embarrassed as she explores the campus. After he refuses to let her see his new room, she gives him a long hug, despite his standoffishness. He goes upstairs: “I pulled away, lifted the trunk, and began my climb, leaving my mother in the stairwell of a dormitory, as close as she would ever get to a college education” (78).

Chick’s mother makes him a roast beef sandwich for lunch and asks about Catherine, his ex-wife. She wants to know what Catherine thinks about Chick’s relationship with his daughter, Maria, after he implied earlier that all was not well. With difficulty, he admits to her that he and Catherine are divorced. He begins to explain the downward turn his life has taken, but his mother does not respond, and instead tells him that all his problems can be fixed.