Chapter 14 Summary and Analysis

For the first two years of Henry's incarceration, Karen visits him once a week. By the third year, the children are unable to bear the twelve-hour round-trip drive every weekend so Karen reduces the visits to once or twice a month. Young Judy suffers from stomach cramps each time she has to visit the prison. She and her sister Ruth find the ten to twelve-hour visits interminable; there is no daycare at the prison and the girls quickly get bored while their parents and their friends socialize in the bare visiting room. Karen works two jobs while Henry is in prison, in addition to helping Henry with his drug sales and bookmaking operations. She knows it costs Henry $500 a week to live in prison between guard payoffs and special food and privileges. Henry sends her the $673 a month he receives from...