Summary

Chapter 16 reverts to Charlene's memories of her teenage years. When she was entering her senior year of high school, the economic situation forced her family to move from Wisconsin to Indiana. Charlene had hoped that Sera was going to have a different kind of life. She had imagined how it would feel to tell her parents that Sera was going to the Olympics. Now she is forced to admit that Sera was almost an Olympian, and no one recognizes those who almost made it. Charlene looks carefully at herself in the mirror and realizes she has let herself go. She dyes her hair a hideous color and then redyes it. She uses cayenne pepper on her lips to add fullness and is horrified with the swelling. She feels “old and haggard and I guessed that was just the way I was going to...