Summary

In Chapter 1, set in the summer of 2015, Beyah Grim’s mother, Janean, has a picture of Mother Teresa hanging on the wall of their trailer house. The picture is ironic because Janean believes Mother Teresa is a fraud. One day, 19-year-old Beyah returns home from her job at McDonald’s to find her mother lying on the couch, vacantly staring at this picture. Beyah sees that the needle her mother used to inject herself with meth is still in her arm.

Beyah had imagined in the past what her life might be like if her mother died. She had not imagined that she would be as calm as she is at this moment. Beyah had a childhood in which she was often hungry. She had to learn how to work the stove at six to ensure that she would have food to eat...