Again, Eli shows that he’s much more interested in telling readers everything about the people he lives with than he is in telling them about what he’s doing in the present with Slim (presumably, learning to drive a manual transmission). This passage establishes August as difficult, if not impossible, to figure out. He seems to do things that make little or no sense, but he and Eli are still close. Eli also confirms that his parents aren’t together (Mum currently has a boyfriend named Lyle).