Summary
After a tense conversation with the new doorman for his apartment building, Theo picks up the luggage he hid the painting in and sets off for Las Vegas. On the way to the airport, Theo realizes that his luggage could be searched, but he passes through security without any issues and boards the plane.
In Vegas, everything seems unfamiliar to Theo, and he no longer feels his mother's presence. He realizes that his father's Lexus, and Xandra, were both acquired before his dad left. Xandra and his dad have a fight during their car ride from the airport, and fight again when they reach the house. The house is almost completely bare, and Theo realizes that his father got rid of most of his mother's things because he hated her.
After Xandra and his dad keep flashing peace signs at each other, Theo realizes that his father has replaced his alcoholism with a Vicodin addiction. But, the Vicodin has made him much calmer and easier to be around, so Theo doesn't particularly mind. The house is large and mostly empty, and Theo isn't sure if his father has a job or any income to pay for it.
Theo mostly doesn't mind living with Xandra, especially when they quietly watch movies together. But sometimes she gets frustrated and becomes condescending, and she seems to feel inconvenienced by his arrival. Even though his situation isn't ideal, Theo feels more freedom than he did at the Barbours, where he had expectations and responsibilities.
The familiarity of Theo’s new school is comforting to him. His class starts reading Thoreau's Walden, and he takes refuge in its coolness and silence. He bonds with Boris, who also likes Walden, and they become close friends. Boris's dad is a mining executive, so Boris has traveled extensively and wants to return to Papua New Guinea. Unlike the kids Theo knew in New York, Boris has immense life experience—he's lived on the streets of Ukraine, he's ridden camels, and he's had sex. While living in Indonesia, he converted to Islam and was given the name Badr al-Dine, though he no longer practices any religion.
With his new home a mostly empty and inaccessible wasteland, Theo starts to miss the Barbours' apartment, and occasionally he sends letters to Mrs. Barbour. He also writes to Pippa, though he often doesn't send the letters and she is still too sick to respond to them. Boris notices Theo's letter and asks if he is writing to Pippa because he beat her. He also learns that Boris's father beats him, and Boris comes to school with bruises and black eyes.
Boris develops a crush on Xandra, and catches her snorting cocaine. He wonders if Xandra is selling it, and asks how his dad is able to pay for everything, something Theo doesn't know the answer to. Even though Theo and Xandra don't have the best relationship, she likes Boris and is occasionally kind to them.
Boris's father, in contrast, is constantly drunk and neglectful. When Theo finally meets him on Thanksgiving, Boris lies and says Theo's name is Potter and gives his father an incorrect home address so his father won't try to drunkenly harass him and his family. Theo and Boris spend Thanksgiving together, and Theo remembers how the prior Thanksgiving his mother bought a spoiled turkey, forcing them to have a vegetarian meal, something she promised to remedy the following year. Instead, he is with Boris, and he gets so drunk that he blacks out and spends the rest of the night vomiting. He tries to call Hobie and Andy, but can't reach either of them.
During a visit at Boris's house, Boris's dad comes home and beats Boris, kicking him and hitting him with a cane. Boris and Theo escape, and Boris tells him that his father killed a man in New Guinea, forcing them to leave. Boris starts bleeding profusely, and Theo puts Xandra's perfume on him as a quick antiseptic. The strong fragrance leads him to jump in the pool to try to rid himself of the scent, and they swim together until Boris starts bleeding again. In the morning, they skip school and Boris tells Theo he'll pretend his bruises are from an accident, and that he'll likely be deported if he lets anyone know about his father's abuse. He admits that also tried to kill his father once, leaving him outside in the cold, but his father survived.
Boris starts to stay at Theo's house frequently, and Xandra and his father don't notice. Boris gets along well with Theo's dad, and they frequently get into conversations about politics and philosophy. Boris thinks that Theo's dad is trying to make amends with him, and asks Theo to be kinder. On Christmas, they all go to a restaurant together, and celebrate the holiday.
Analysis
When Theo leaves New York, he also leaves the memories that are linked to the city, and without constant reminders of his mother, he starts to forget her. Theo's awareness shifts to the painting, which he meticulously conceals in a pillowcase in his room, making sure to clean and maintain his room as much as possible so that it isn't discovered. A transfer of emotion and anxiety occurs as Theo focuses on the painting, and gets physically and mentally closer to it while he physically and mentally distances himself from his mother.
He also depends on Pippa, and frequently writes letters to her that he doesn't send, maintaining an invisible bond between them. He can barely remember what she looks like, but he holds on to their relationship, and only stops writing a letter to her when he is overwhelmed by a memory of his mother. This emotional response reveals how Theo is using Pippa to cope with and conceal the pain of his mother's death. Pippa continues to serve as a solace and an emotional crutch for Theo, even though he can barely remember her outside of the image he has created of her.
In Las Vegas, Theo realizes that his father has shifted his dependence from alcohol to Vicodin, which causes him to have a "different, more affable energy" (281). Theo's apathy towards his father's addiction reveals a disconnect between them. His father's health is not a primary concern of his as long as his father is manageable and easy to be around. This also shows the weak relationship between Theo and his father, as his father's neglect has created irreparable damage and has made it significantly harder for Theo to care for his father. This disconnect extends outside of his relationship with his father, as he only seems to take interest in his relationship with Boris.
Boris proves to be a comforting but toxic friend for Theo. Their similarities forge a friendship between them, but Boris also encourages Theo to drink and take drugs, and they have a mutually destructive dynamic. The wasteland of their town, and the neglect of their parents, also leads them to positively explore and enrich themselves, complicating the many negative aspects of their relationship.
For Boris, Theo's friendship is incredibly important because Theo has a "halfway normal household" (302). Boris's father is an abusive alcoholic, and the violent episodes Theo witnesses between Boris and his father mirror some of the interactions Theo has with his own father. While Theo is tied to his father because he doesn't have anyone else to live with, Boris is tied to his father because he cannot report his abuse without risking deportation. So, when Boris starts to stay at Theo's house constantly, he isn't interrogated by Theo's neglectful father or Xandra, and easily navigates and ameliorates himself to a family that is similar to, but more stable than, his own.
