Summary

In Chapter 3, when Molly turns on the tap, the water runs brown. Eilish imagines the brown water running over her home and the city. She thinks about the past and the future. Mark returns home with a letter from the state. They will draft him when he turns 17 in a few days. Eilish insists “they cannot call [him] up for national service” (70). Mark says she cannot stop them.

In a meeting at work, Eilish’s supervisor, Paul, speaks “the cant of the party, about an age of change and reformation” (71). Eilish’s mind drifts into memories. Afterwards, she and her colleague Colm go out for a cigarette. Colm says the state arrested four students. Other students and parents are protesting at the station. He suggests that Eilish get Mark out of the country as soon as possible.

That night, Molly blames Eilish for...