Part 2 Summary

Elizabeth thinks about how many people she has known who died young, especially in her youth in Lexington, Kentucky. She says that many of the people from her youth died before the age of twenty-five. Elizabeth focuses on the sad tale of Juanita. Juanita is the much-loved, only daughter of a railroad stationmaster, who is cared for in her childhood by her doting family. After high school, Juanita becomes a prostitute for no apparent reason, wandering around the town aimlessly, with no regard for her own safety. She spends the nights in the filthiest motels, and drinks heavily, so that she is terribly hung-over in the mornings. Through all of her self-destructive behavior, her family still supports her and tries to take care of her, but she ends up with some venereal disease. While the neighbors gossip about what Juanita has caught, she...