Memphis

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of domestic abuse, racism, racist violence, and child sexual abuse. The study guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word.

Joan arrives with her mother, Miriam, her sister, Mya, and their dog, Wolf, at their family home in Memphis. Miriam tells her daughters that her father, Myron, “a man deep in love,” built the house (3). Joan observes the exterior and the wildlife around the house and wants to draw it in the sketchbook she always carries. She has a vague memory of the house from when she was three years old.

Auntie August, Miriam’s half-sister, welcomes them. Her appearance mesmerizes Joan. She is a tall woman with dark skin. August sees Miriam’s bruised face covered with make-up and loses her “swagger.” The sisters fall into an embrace.

Derek, August’s son and Joan’s cousin, appears at the door, and Joan feels threatened. The memory of what he did to her seven years ago returns. Joan remembers how he held her down on the floor of his room. Her distress makes her wet herself and she remains still.