At the end of the previous school year, Carlyle’s wife Eileen left him and his two children, Keith and Sarah, for one of his fellow teachers at the high school where he works. Over the summer, Carlyle cared for them himself, but as the school year begins, he desperately needs a babysitter.

For a month after his wife Eileen left, Carlyle put all of his time and energy into the children. While they slept, he paced around the house, drinking and oscillating between wanting Eileen back and wanting to tell her off as he tried to forget the things he loved about her.

After talking on the phone with Carol, his new girlfriend and a principal’s office secretary at his school, Carlyle briefly considers calling Eileen. The one time Carlyle called her since she left, Eileen told him that “her head was in the right place for the first time in a long time” (150). She rambled about karma and promised that Carlyle’s karma would improve very soon. Stunned, Carlyle abruptly ended the call and ignored her when she tried to call back. The phone rings and Carlyle answers, knowing immediately that it’s Eileen. He tells her he was thinking of her then immediately regrets it.