- King Kong kicks Reese's chair all through class. Reese manages to control himself even though it makes him angry.
- Now Reese is at Evergreen, joking around a little with Nancy Opara, an exchange student from Nigeria who's working there for extra credit.
- Reese likes joking around. He can't really joke around at Progress because everyone's behavior is so volatile.
- Reese feels the residents staring at him as he collects the garbage. He hopes that he'll just blend in eventually—he just wants to be a regular guy.
- After he's finished with the garbage, he stops in Mr. Hooft's room. Mr. Hooft's not around, so Reese starts to clean.
- Reese sits as Mr. Hooft reads the paper. Mr. Hooft wonders if Reese is thinking about stealing from him—perhaps his soap dish, for example. Surprise: Reese is not thinking that.
- Reese tells Mr. Hooft about King Kong. Somehow this story seems to resonate with the senior, who recalls a time when someone picked a fight with him.
- Story time: Once upon a time, Mr. Hooft was nine and he lived in the Dutch East Indies.
- Oh, by the way, Mr. Hooft is going to tell this story in the most racist way possible, insulting Reese the whole time for being stupid. Reese politely pushes back.
- Mr. Hooft needs his bandage changed. Those are pretty much never words you want to hear.
- The old man is changing his bandage and it isn't going particularly well, so Reese offers to help.
- Turns out Mr. Hooft has a hole in his leg. We don't know what that means, exactly, but that doesn't sound good.
- Reese is sort of freaked out, so he goes to get Simi.