When the World Tips Over

Content warning: This section contains references to sexual assault, substance use, and endangerment of a child.

Cassidy returns to her story of betrayal. In the story, their RV, Sadie Mae, dies as she and her mother are leaving The Town. Things become difficult after that. In pictures of her mother, Cassidy says, “it’s as if she’s under a witch’s spell and the life force is slowly being drained out of her” (349). Her mother begins heavy substance use, neglecting Cassidy’s welfare. Cassidy says, “I feel like a ghost, like a candle that’s been snuffed out, a kid that’s been thrown off a carousel” (354). A note in Marigold’s bag of words references her despair.

As life with her mother becomes more difficult, Cassidy longs for escape. She looks online for ways to help her mother and thinks of Wynton all the time. A month before she turns 14, Cassidy is hiding beneath a stack of coats at a party. A man finds her and gropes her, rubbing himself against her and restraining her when she protests. Cassidy feels frightened and ashamed but doesn’t tell her mother. At an RV park on her birthday, she approaches a group of kids and drinks beer with them.