Summary

In Chapter 1, narrated by Kenna, during the drive into town, Kenna removes the wooden cross from the roadside where Scotty died. She knows Scotty’s mother put it there. She imagines that Scotty would hate it. She had pleaded guilty to causing his death because she did not want to hear the details discussed in the trial. She reasons that she killed Scotty with her inaction.

The landlord at Kenna’s new apartment agrees to leave the electricity on for a month if Kenna will take a kitten. Kenna is already worried she will not be able to find a job with her felony history without the cost of a pet. Regardless, she thinks that having her own apartment will show the Landrys that she is independent.

Kenna looks at the kitten and thinks of the last living thing she named. It took...