Happy Days by Miro Gavran

Summary of Chapters 3 - 12

On the Sunday after the firecrackers on the Sava levee, the main protagonist, Pero, was invited to his best friend Ivo's house for lunch.  He met Ivo's father, Uncle Luke, who loved climbing and volleyball and had prepared a "real man's meal".  Ivo also got to play with Ivo's revolver and saw his comic book collection, as well as his numerous books about the world's greatest climbers.  He also found out that Ivo's mother had left his father and gone to live in Argentina with her new husband.

Pero had a truly wonderful day with Uncle Luke and Ivo, and it led him to realise how much he had missed a real man's company ever since his own father died.  His mother, though kind and loving, would never let him watch volleyball on TV.  The only visitors to their flat would be her ageing female colleague and female relatives (aunt and grandmother).  Despite this, his mother never seemed to realise what a void was created in Pero's life by her stubborn decision not to remarry. 

Pero, however, understood that he, as well as his mother, badly needed a man in their lives, and so he set about trying to find her a husband (and himself a father).  His best friend Ivo was more than ever happy to help, and together they devised lots of plans to try to introduce Pero's mother to a man she could marry.

First, Ivo recommended a particular plumber who lived in his block.  He sometimes played football with Ivo so he must be good with kids.  Pero immediately decided that he would break the kitchen tap while his mother was out one day so she would have to call a plumber, and this would be the perfect opportunity for them to meet.  This he did, and when his mother came home she was highly impressed that her son had already looked up the plumber's number. 

Unfortunately, on that particular day, the plumber had been drinking heavily.  When he turned up, he was in no fit state not only to impress Pero's mother, but even to find quickly what was wrong with the tap.  He had to spend several hours fixing it, thus running up massive call-out fees.  So expensive were his services that Pero's mother told Pero she could no longer afford to buy him new skates for Christmas.  This idea therefore turned out to be something of a fiasco.