Guiding Questions

Lizabeth hears her parents talking late at night. In listening to their conversation, she comes to learn that her father feels like a failure, that her mother's absences are a direct result of the family's need to financially survive. She hears the hopelessness in her father's voice, and she hears him cry, something that rocks her to the core.

The world had lost its boundary lines. My mother, who was small and soft, was now the strength of the family; my father, who was the rock on which the family had been built, was sobbing like the tiniest child. Everything was suddenly out of tune, like a broken accordion. Where did I fit into this crazy picture? I do not now remember my thoughts, only a feeling of great bewilderment and fear.