Long Bright River

Mickey thinks back to the day when she discovered Kacey was using drugs in her house. Without being told, Kacey packs her things and leaves. Shortly after this point, Mickey sees her sister hooking on the street. She says, “What passed between us in that moment was an unbearable sadness, the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same, the crumbling to dust of all the ideas we ever had as children about the better life we’d one day make for one another” (343).

Mickey confides in Simon, who promises to keep an eye on Kacey for her. After a few months, he reports that Kacey is delusional and ought to be under psychiatric care. Mickey makes an attempt to track her sister down. She finds her living with a roommate and discovers that she is pregnant. Kacey says that the baby belongs to Simon, but Mickey accuses her of lying. It isn’t until later, when Simon refuses to take a paternity test, that Mickey knows the truth.

Once the baby is born, Mickey assumes custody and legally adopts Thomas. Simon wants to remain in the boy’s life, too. Mickey says this will only be possible if he pays for the child’s schooling, which he agrees to do.