Giovanni's Room

David walks home, yearning for a stable, traditional family now that his future is in chaos. He finds Giovanni in the room, drunk and celebrating his freedom from Guillaume. David calms Giovanni down enough for him to tell the story of his firing. Giovanni could tell Guillaume was in a “dangerous mood” (106) and looking to start an argument, suspecting the man had been rejected by some boy. In his upper-floor pied-a-terre, Guillaume interrogated Giovanni about his relationship with David and reminded him about his debt to the older man. Giovanni refused Guillaume’s advances. When the bar began to fill, Guillaume publicly accused Giovanni of stealing from him. In the heat of the moment, Giovanni hit Guillaume, who then threw him out onto the street. Despite David’s earlier conviction to leave Giovanni, after the tale he promises to stay with Giovanni and write to his father again for money.

However, David doesn’t write to his father because he fears it will solidify his life with Giovanni, so he borrows from Jacques instead. Rather than look for a job, Giovanni starts renovating the room as a show of appreciation for David’s love.