Chapter One Summary

The narrator, Jack, opens by claiming that while he did not kill his father, he fears that he helped him to die. Yet his death was insignificant in comparison to what lay ahead.

When Jack is fourteen two men visit Jack's family's home to deliver cement. His father has them bring the cement packs into the cellar and Jack's father records information on his clipboard. Jack does not know what the cement is for. His parents argue about the cement that night; his mother, typically quiet, is angry. She wants his father to return the cement. He refuses to engage her.

Jack and his two sisters, Sue and Julie, go to Julie's bedroom; Julie and Jack strip Sue of her clothes and begin to examine her naked body like doctors. Then Julie suggests it is Jack's turn, but he refuses and...