Summary

In Chapter 7, Celia, Stoner, and Rich wake under the bridge. Celia asks if anyone has any money for breakfast. Everyone feels that Celia does not carry her weight, and some of them are tired of the fact that she seldom panhandles or turns tricks. They have lunch at the Sisters of Mercy. Celia calls on the butterflies for comfort. Celia sees the flyer Naomi put up, and the words “Tell her I am sorry and I miss her” (33) resonates. Celia remembers waking one night when she was young to find Teddy sticking a needle in her drug-addled mother's arm. Her mother did not notice Celia, “But Teddy did” (34). Celia did not tell anyone what Teddy was doing to her. Her younger sister, Alyssa, was born and Celia felt invisible.

That night, “Celia turned a trick” (35), reassuring herself that “It was just...