Britannia, NY

It's Friday afternoon, and Mike is cautiously optimistic. The kids haven't been giving much trouble lately; Gary's been to the doctor and back again, and begun to loosen up a little on the subject; and any week in which Nathan minds his own business, he feels, can be counted as a net gain. So he's reasonably cheerful as he heads back to the apartment building, ankle deep in dead leaves. It's good walking weather.