The chapter opens with the narrator deleting an earlier draft about his path to becoming a writer and launches into a memory of being eight years old in a one‑bedroom Hartford apartment watching his grandmother Lan asleep. Lan’s skin is described in vivid detail; she awakens, speaks to the narrator in broken English and French while playing with a plastic WWII soldier, and gives him a cryptic message about “good soldiers only win when their grandmas feed them.” The narrator explains that Lan calls him “Little Dog,” a protective name rooted in Vietnamese folklore that wards evil spirits.

Lan then prepares a modest meal of rice and jasmine tea, calling it “our fast food,” and warns him that any leftover rice is a “maggot in hell.” Their interaction is laced with humor (mutual flatulence) and harsh discipline, underscored by Lan’s permanently bent back.

Later, during Independence Day fireworks, the apartment is bombarded by mortar sounds. Lan, terrified, silences the narrator and huddles with him under a window sill, whispering about the mortars while applying Tiger Balm. The narrator visualizes the family as a frozen arctic landscape under the explosions.

A flashback reveals Lan’s birth story: a shaman baptizes the newborn narrator in a river, gives him a grandiose Vietnamese name meaning “Patriotic Leader of the Nation,” and his father proudly declares he will lead Vietnam—though the nation soon collapses, forcing the family to flee.

The narrative shifts to a school bus episode where several boys repeatedly assault the narrator, demanding he speak English and call them by name. The bullying escalates to slaps and name‑calling (“Kyle”), ending only when a radio song distracts the aggressors.

Back at home, the narrator’s mother (Ma) smokes a Marlboro, chastises him for crying, and insists he must “use his English” to survive. She forces him to drink copious American milk, promising it will make him “like Superman.” This ritual repeats daily, symbolizing his attempt to fill himself with light.

The narrator reflects on time as a spiral, noting how Lan’s stories shift in minor details, reinforcing the theme of intergenerational trauma. Lan repeatedly asks the narrator to make her “young again” and to remove “snow” from her head, while the narrator observes the physical effects of trauma on her body.

A chaotic scene at a C‑Town grocery store follows: Ma, Lan, and the narrator attempt to buy oxtail for bún bò huế but fail due to language barriers, resorting instead to buying Wonder Bread and mood rings. Lan’s frantic pantomime with horns and mooing draws laughter from the staff.

The chapter ends with the three of them on the floor, Lan and Ma receiving massages from the narrator, mood rings on their fingers, and the narrator interpreting for them. He answers Lan’s question “Am I happy?” with “Yes,” acknowledging the cyclical nature of love, pain, and survival as they drift together like a raft on the metaphorical river of America.