- Jason reports to his dad about the books. He didn't write anything, just tells his dad that he didn't like any of them. "'They all require a belief in a supreme being. If you don't believe in God, then the books don't mean much" (31.6).
- His dad relents. "'You're sixteen, old enough to make your own choices. I'm not going to force anything on you" (31.17). Church and TPO are now officially optional.
- Jason is at the mall for some back-to-school shopping when he runs into Henry and Magda—Henry is on crutches, Magda carries his bags. Jason ignores Magda and is "excessively surly and trollish" to Henry (31.22).
- Henry tells Jason that motion sensors have been installed on the water tower, but as soon as his splint comes off he'll figure a way around them and climb back up.
- Jason asks Magda why she hasn't been to TPO meetings—which he's only gone to in order to see her—is it because she's been busy with Henry? When he says, "'You could do better'" (31.45), Henry whacks him on the side of the head with his crutch.
- Jason gets seven stitches and a night in the hospital. His mom is hysterical, his dad wants to sue, and Henry is banned from the mall; Magda sends a card and flowers.
- Jason's got time to think in the hospital in the middle of the night. Maybe Shin is right—"you can't really understand something until you believe in it" (31.49). Shin "just decides to believe in something, then he dives right in" (31.50), Jason notices, and he kind of envies Shin for always knowing what he wants. He kind of envies his dad too for his unshakable faith. He says, "I have Chutengodianism—a religion with no church, no money, and only one member. I have a religion, but I have no faith. Maybe one day I'll find a deity I can believe in. Until then, my god is made of steel and rust" (31.52).