Summary

In "Solitaire," the first essay in the collection, Hough describes her experience as an airman at Share Air Force Base in South Carolina. Earlier in her career, when she was in Egypt, she had received death threats from an anonymous person because she was gay, but had not reported them because the military was still implementing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in which known queer people could still be dismissed from service. At Shaw, while she is house sitting for one of the sergeants, someone lights her car on fire. The Air Force opens an investigation, but Hough quickly becomes a suspect as they accuse her of lighting her own car on fire. Going through the process of the trial reminds Hough of her childhood, in which she was involuntarily raised as part of the Children of God cult. Known later...