Who is Clay Derby from Copper Sun and what is their importance?

Clay Derby is the eighteen-year-old son and heir of Mr. Percival Derby. Amari was purchased as an eighteenth-birthday present for Clay and he is always eager to show Amari off to his friends. Clay is described as having greasy hair and rotten breath. Although his relationship with Amari is considered rape, it appears that Clay genuinely cares whether Amari likes him. He tries to show Amari favor by sending food and blankets to her shack, but deep down, Clay Derby is an evil, possessive man. It is Clay Derby that is responsible for revealing the truth about Isabelle Derby's baby, and he stands smiling as his father shoots the newborn dead. At the end of the novel, Clay's fate is unclear. After he tracked Amari through the woods to return her to his farm, Amari leaves him tied to a tree with a rattlesnake nearby.