Chapter Six Summary

Jack reminisces about how the four siblings handle running the house when Mother and Father are gone to a funeral two years before the present day. Mother and Father prepare them. The kids go wild, playing with each other until Tom defecates on himself. They tie him to his brass cot as he screams; when they shut him in the bedroom, they cannot hear him anymore and resume their games.

Thirty minutes before Mother and Father are due home, Julie, Jack and Sue start cleaning Tom and the house. That night, the three older siblings discuss how they are eager to have their parents away again.

Following Mother's death, Jack recognizes a sense of freedom but a lack of excitement. Life is quiet and the weather is hot. Tom, however, seems content; he takes Julie to be his mother. When he...