The men in the Division argue about who amongst them is the biggest drunk, but the argument is decided when Roman Orlov enters. He claims he drinks because he is trying to drown his 'monster,' and once the narrator buys him a double shot, he agrees to tell his story: The Orlovs live in a small apartment with only two beds. Roman Orlov sleeps between the twins, while his sister Teresa sleeps with Mama Orlov because their father is out playing the accordion in a tavern all night. Papa Orlov returns very rarely, and he always sleeps beneath one of the beds for lack of space. He never sleeps beside Mama Orlov because the accordion usurped her place in his life and now he feels 'unworthy' of being in that bed. One morning Papa Orlov tells the family that he heard someone knocking on the door but found no one there. Everyone dismisses him until Roman hears the knocking too, and then Mama Orlov is convinced that the dead have returned with a message. She speaks to the neighbors to find out what happened, and she learns that the previous tenant of their house was an alcoholic who beat his girlfriend to death and then hung himself in the bedroom closet. Mama Orlov is aghast, but she is told by the neighbor that the ghost only wants peace. So the Orlov family gathers to pray for the soul of that young man, and the knocking eventually stops. Then, Papa Orlov loses his accordion. He gets a day job as a janitor, returning home at night to sleep in Mama Orlov's bed, while Teresa shifts to sleeping between the twins. Roman no longer has a bed of his own, but he won't sleep on the floor like his father did, so he takes to sleeping during the day and being awake all through the night. Unfortunately, the only place he can go at night is the tavern, and so he becomes an alcoholic. Mama Orlov remarks that the ghost she prayed for did indeed bring bad luck: she got her husband back, but she lost her son Roman.