The narrator recounts a week of work and leisure. After a hard week he meets Raymond, who reports having sent the threatening letter. He goes to the movies twice with his coworker Emmanuel, having to explain the films to him. On Saturday Marie Cardona arrives; she wears a red‑and‑white striped dress and leather sandals, and the narrator is immediately attracted to her. They take a bus to a rocky beach outside Algiers, swim in warm water, and play a game of skimming foam with their mouths. Marie initiates a kiss in the water, and later, on the beach, they kiss again before hurriedly returning home, where they make love on the narrator’s bed. The next morning Marie stays for lunch; the narrator goes downstairs to buy meat. On his way back he hears a woman’s voice from Raymond’s room, then hears old Salamano shouting at his dog and curses in the hallway. He tells Marie about Salamano’s outburst; she laughs and, wearing his pajamas, asks if he loves her. He says it means nothing and that he does not love her, but she laughs again and they kiss. Suddenly a fight breaks out in Raymond’s room: a woman shrieks as Raymond beats her, shouting “You used me, you used me. I’ll teach you to use me.” A policeman and a neighbor‑plumber arrive; the officer slaps Raymond, confiscates his cigarette, and orders him to stop. The woman cries “He’s a pimp!” while Raymond argues about the legality of the accusation. The officer sends the woman away and tells Raymond to stay in his room. After the police leave, Marie and the narrator finish lunch; Marie is not hungry and leaves at one o’clock. Later, Raymond comes to the narrator’s room, sits on the edge of the bed, and asks the narrator to act as a witness to claim the woman had cheated on him. The narrator agrees. They go out; Raymond buys the narrator brandy, they play pool (the narrator loses), and Raymond suggests going to a brothel, which the narrator refuses. On the way back they see Salamano on the doorway, frantic because his mangy spaniel is missing. Salamano explains he lost the dog at the Parade Ground during a fair and fears the police will take the dog; the narrator advises him to go to the pound and wait for the dog’s return. Salamano becomes angry, curses the dog, and leaves. He later returns to the narrator’s door, trembling, and asks if the authorities will take his dog; the narrator explains the pound’s three‑day holding policy. Salamano quietly says good night and cries in his room. The narrator, unsettled, goes to sleep without dinner.