Summary

In the Prologue, Regina Calcaterra was looking over New York City with other government officials. The city had been ravaged by a storm, which is also an apt way to describe Regina's childhood. She has four siblings. Cherie and Camille are older than Regina, and Norm and Rosie are younger. Each has a different father. Regina and her siblings grew up in New York City, and she loved the city.

Chapter 1, “Bitten Bones,” takes place in Suffolk County, Long Island, in the summer of 1980. Regina relates the details of her life. She and her siblings were riding in a car driven by their mother, whom they called Cookie. They usually remained off the main roads because their mother had warrants for her arrest. Regina was thirteen at the time of the events in this chapter. Regina's oldest sister, Cherie, had recently married...