April 2011

Meg and Molly continue to look around Lorelei’s house. In Rhys’s room, the bedding has been stripped and his clothes are gone, but apart from that, it is as he left it. His posters include Pearl Jam, Nirvana, NWA, Alice in Chains, and Courtney Love, and Molly describes it as “a museum of the nineties” (103). It is the only room in the house that hasn’t been filled, and Meg wonders how her mother managed to control her hoarding here but not elsewhere in the house.

Molly realizes that Rhys was barely older than she is now when he died. Meg had worried that her son, Alfie, would be bullied at school like Rhys was. Molly has a close bond with her brother, contrasting with Rhys, who was gradually cut off from the rest of the family. Meg feels guilty for not looking after him better. Beth calls again, and Meg cuts her off.

March 1997

Beth is staying with Meg, who is pregnant with her second child. Rory and Kayleigh are still in Spain, their one-month trip now extending into nearly two years. Colin is away on business, and Beth is resentful about being the only child going home for