LeeRoy and Hằng argue about how to uproot the mesquite stump over breakfast. Chú Quốc calls again; he has been doing so repeatedly since he came by the previous day. Hằng listens to what he has to say, tells him no, then hangs up. LeeRoy urges Hằng to sign whatever Chú Quốc wants in return for money to fix the truck. She agrees if they try her idea to pull the stump out using the truck. However, it doesn’t work, and as they break for lunch, David is tired; for the first time, he cannot wait for school to reopen.

Hằng gives David a drawing of a fruit at lunch; it is the fourth one she has given him, and just as with the others, he cannot remember this one either. Hằng and LeeRoy play what seems like a word game to David, where they reconstruct sentences in a word tree diagram. LeeRoy offers the sentence “Getting something done with her is like putting socks on a rooster” (172); Hằng retorts with “He deserves every stab of thorn” (173). Watching them closely, David asks if they like each other, and they immediately glare at him, before returning to work.