All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Val forces Patty to retrieve Wavy so she can talk to her. In Val’s room, Wavy experiences another frightening encounter with her mother. Val berates Wavy’s grandmother and then Liam. She tells Wavy that men only want sex. She cries and tells Wavy her ring means nothing, guessing that Kellen gave it to her and telling Wavy that he’ll use and abandon her. Val begs Wavy to get on “the Pill” (172), but Wavy thinks of all the pills her mother takes and decides she does not want any pills. Val tells Wavy that men will get inside her and make her unclean. She digs her nails into Wavy and tells her not to let anybody touch her. Wavy believes her mother means to ruin Kellen, her one place of safety. She throws off Val’s clutch and runs from the room.

Donal describes a night when Ricki, one of Liam’s numerous women, tries to get Kellen to take her riding on his renovated bike while Liam is off with Dee. Kellen tells Ricki that only Wavy can ride on his bike now because she is his “girl.” Ricki calls Kellen a pedophile, but Sandy cuts her off, saying that “it’s sweet” (174).