Summary

In Chapter 3, 15-year-old Derek implements a nightly routine involving eight-year-old Mock visiting his room and performing oral sex. This goes on for nearly two years and forces her to grow up quickly and leave her childlike innocence behind. Years later, Mock recognizes that she was the victim of child abuse, but at the time she did not understand. At the time, she liked how Derek singling her out “validated the girl-child” in her (44). At around 10 years old, Derek stopped eliciting sexual favors from Mock and in the absence of his attention, she develops a crush on a 12-year-old boy named Junior. Mock plays the mom and Junior the dad in games of house. Mock’s first kiss is with Junior and she begins to perform oral sex on him while they are playing outside with one another. Meanwhile, distant from her younger brother...