It was bits and pieces of a telephone conversation with a mystery person.
"What does he want the bits for?" said Karataev.
They took their time, squatting on the dusty ground, letting minutes pass between bits of conversation.
Because of this, "two bits" is still slang for twenty-five cents in the United States.
Satisfied there was nothing left, he tore her prescriptions to bits before returning to the chair and stilling again into a statue.