A thirteen-year-old boy narrates an exchange with his grandfather. His grandfather lost his short-term memory "sometime during the first Eisenhower Administration," so he frequently retells the story of the time he gave the order to blow up a boat of naked Japanese civilians. In every retelling, the grandfather thinks he is confiding top-secret information to his grandson for the first time. The grandson is addressed as a sailor and expected to demonstrate reverence to his commander-grandfather.

In the secrecy of a closet filled with the boy's grandmother's clothes, the grandfather explains that he ordered the boat be blown up not to support the war effort but because he wanted to demonstrate the decision-making power he had as a naval leader. He reminds his grandson that men must be challenging and leaves the boy in the closet to consider his words. The reader is left to consider themes of toxic masculinity, changing views of political correctness over time, and the way war can scar veterans mentally and emotionally.

The story ends when the boy's grandmother asks her husband: "Where's the kid?"