Chapter 1 Summary

Mark, an eleven-year-old, and Ricky, his younger brother, are walking down a path into the woods behind their trailer park. Mark promised Ricky to let him try smoking, since Ricky caught Mark stealing their mother's cigarettes and threatened to tell. Mark reminds Ricky of the two rules they agreed on. First, only one cigarette is allowed per day. Second, Ricky can't tell anyone. Mark also warns Ricky not to inhale. Mark is very mature for his age. He hit his Dad with a baseball bat to make him stop beating his Mom, when he was seven. He was his Mom's confidant and testified in court for her during the divorce trials.

As the boys fiddle with their cigarette, a black Lincoln pulls into the clearing, thirty feet from where they stand. Mark and Ricky stop smoking and watch. A chubby man gets out...