Summary

In Part I (“Monsters”) of the opening story “Milk Blood Heat,” two young adolescent girls, Kiera and Ava, prick their fingers and drip their blood into a bowl. They mix the blood with milk and take turns drinking it. Kiera, who is white, has more permissive parents; Ava, who is Black, has a strict mother. The girls declare themselves “Blood sisters” (2) and run off to the retention pond behind Kiera's house, where they dance around and jokingly call each other “sexy monster” (4). They are fascinated by a dead cardinal they find nearby. When Ava's mother picks her up, she is angry that Ava's shoes are dirty and expresses mild disdain for Kiera's parents. In Part II (“Games”), Kiera gets her first period before Ava. The two play a game of hypotheticals in which they imagine different ways they might die...