A Good Neighborhood

The narrators remark that, at that time, they did not know Juniper’s backstory. Her life had been much different before Brad came into the picture. On Juniper’s third birthday, Julia, who was 19 at the time, had moved out of her mother’s house. She picked up Lottie, who was upset at a stray dog outside her home, and took her to the library then took Juniper to her babysitter’s house, but the babysitter was not home. She left Juniper, expecting that the sitter, Karen, would return home soon. Juniper was left alone with Karen’s dog for hours. She tried to go to the bathroom, but she got scared when a light blew out. She soiled herself, and, when Karen finally got home from taking care of her father, Juniper was pantsless and eating bread underneath the kitchen table.

Xavier has his last day of high school, and he thinks he will miss school. Xavier has no political interests, and he worries that this makes him weak. Tom was an activist, but Xavier wants to focus on his music. He questions what the point of activism is if people have to keep fighting for rights instead of getting to live a harmonious life.