Summary

The narrative then transitions to the fall of 1986. Jackie, Evelyn and Renard’s daughter, is about 30 years old. Jackie’s husband Terry, who has become a crack cocaine addict, has left Jackie in order to focus on feeding his addiction. Jackie does not blame Terry, because she realizes how powerful addiction can be. She now lives in a small apartment with her and Terry’s infant son, T.C. She works at a nursery, and her aunt Ruby takes care of T.C. while Jackie is at work. Her sister Sibyl is a lawyer. One evening, Jackie has dinner with her family, and her father Renard states, “The farther away [Terry] stays from you, the better” (51). Jackie does not blame Terry, as addiction runs in his family, but she says nothing in response to her father’s remark. Sybil internally recalls the large-scale unemployment...