Summary

This Part begins with Perley narrating his life. He describes living at home with “[his] women” as they hunt and gather food and roll dice to go to the grocery store (77). He insists on going to school and eventually succeeds, but does not make friends as he expected. Instead, the other children bully him because he dresses differently from them and does not understand how to use the electronic tablet his teacher gives him at school.

Helen describes her growing friendship with Rudy. Rudy decides to start growing fruit trees and camps out on the women’s property to take care of his nursery. Driving around town at night, Rudy and Helen illicitly plant fruit trees on various properties in town. One night, the principal at Perley’s school catches Rudy and Helen in his front yard and calls the police, who...