Still a virgin, Oscar graduates from Rutgers-New Brunswick in 1992. He moves back home to Paterson and teaches at Don Bosco while writing in his free time. Belicia still works constantly, despite being thinner and sicklier than ever. After a period of sobriety, tío Rudolfo is addicted to heroin again. Meanwhile, Lola, who had been teaching English in Japan, moves to Washington Heights in Manhattan to be with Yunior.

Oscar continues to battle depression and the fear that he will live in his mother’s house for the rest of his life. Even worse, none of the younger nerds want to play role-playing games anymore because they all moved on to Magic: The Gathering cards. Yunior says, “[Oscar] was turning into the worst kind of human on the planet: an old bitter dork” (268).

During his third summer after graduation, Oscar decides to go with Belicia, Lola, and tío Rudolfo on a trip to Santo Domingo, his first visit in years. Belicia and Rudolfo will stay all summer, while Oscar and Lola will stay a week. Yunior writes, “It’s strange. If he’d said no, [he] would probably still be OK. (If you call being fukú’d, being beyond misery, OK.)” (270).