We Begin at the End

Duchess fancies herself an outlaw. When a boy in school mocks her mother and her reputation for having many boyfriends, Duchess stares him down and says, “Talk about my family again and I’ll behead you, motherfucker” (16).

Walk is waiting outside the prison gates to drive Vincent home. The two were best friends in high school when the accident happened. Walk has kept track of his friend in jail. He knows that when Vincent accidentally killed a man who attacked him in prison, they added 20 years to his original sentence. Walk knows that putting a 15-year-old boy in prison was not right and that Vincent, even though a model prisoner, kept to himself for years.

On the way back to Cape Haven, Walk warns Vincent that Darke wants to buy his home, the last front-line beach property to acquire. Vincent says his home is not for sale.

The next day, Walk visits Vincent, who is fixing up his home after being empty for so long. Vincent asks Walk about his old high school flame Martha May. Walk confesses that shortly after Vincent’s trial, Martha discovered she was pregnant and that her father, a preacher, forced her to have an abortion. Walk has not seen Martha in years—she is an attorney in a nearby town. Vincent says, “It’s never too late to fix things” (36).

Duchess and Robin go with their mother to the club where she works. As part of her job, Star sings—she is a gifted singer. When a heckler bothers her, Duchess throws a beer glass at him. Darke is waiting for them when they get home. Duchess does not like Darke. Duchess and Robin go to the bedroom they share; Duchess is determined to stay awake to protect her mother. Her mother screams, and Duchess finds her on the floor, with her mouth bleeding and Darke standing above her. Duchess is about to call the cops when he sees a man who enters the house and, without a word, hits Darke hard enough to send the man running. It is Vincent.

The next night, Duchess bikes to Vincent’s house, where he is working on repairs. They talk a bit before Vincent offers to fix the dragging chain on her bike. As she leaves, she assures Vincent she is tough enough to protect her mom from Darke.

Walk finds Vincent at Sissy’s grave overlooking the ocean. Vincent asks about Duchess and Robin. The two recall the accident that killed Sissy. Walk, Martha, Vincent, and Star had all been out that night. Sissy, left home alone, panicked and was walking the town looking for her sister when Vincent, after dropping off Star, just grazed the girl on a dark street. He did not even know he had hit someone.

Walk heads to the hospital far from town where he is secretly being treated for Parkinson’s disease, fearing it will jeopardize his job. After school, Duchess stops at Vincent’s house, where he is still making repairs. She asks why he doesn’t just sell the “shitty old house” (61). He replies, “Prison has a way of turning the lights out. And this house, it’s a small flame maybe, but it's still burning” (61). Duchess asks about her aunt Sissy. Vincent only tells her to be careful of Darke.

Walk visits Star and tells her that she needs to forgive Vincent so he can forgive himself. Star dismisses the idea. That night, Duchess finds Star beaten and sprawled on the front lawn and sees Darke driving away. Enraged, Duchess bikes to Darke’s club and, using the bar’s alcohol, sets the bar on fire. She thinks to grab the videotape from the surveillance camera system. She bikes home, tossing the tape in a neighbor’s garbage can.

The next day Walk again finds Vincent at Sissy’s grave. Vincent has heard about the bar fire and that someone reported a kid on a bike fleeing the scene. He asks Walk not to pursue Duchess.

Duchess is surprised when Darke is waiting after school for her. Reluctantly, she gets in his car. Darke does not waste time. He knows she torched his bar. He needs the security tape to clear him of suspicions from his insurance company that he set the fire. Spooked, Duchess hurries to the garbage can to retrieve it, but the garbage has been picked up. When she gets home, she wants to tell her mother everything. But tomorrow is Robin’s birthday, and she sees that her mother did not get him anything. She bikes to a gas station convenience store and chooses a doll, spice cake, and candles for her brother’s birthday.

When Duchess gets home, however, she finds police cars all around her house. She runs to the house and sees her mother in the kitchen, shot dead. Walk is already there and puts his arm around the shaken Duchess and assures them that she and her brother, who slept through the attack, can come home with him.