What Night Brings

Marci and Corin stay home from school a week to heal from their injuries. They spend their days with Randy’s mother; Delia lies about the girls’ injuries, which Marci questions.

Marci writes a letter to Grandma Flor about the abuse. In her response, Flor says she cannot get the girls because her boyfriend has had a heart attack, but she sends them money and instructions on how to take the bus to her. They hide the money under Corin’s mattress. Marci doesn’t want to leave without Delia. Instead, she finds the knife that Flor gave her and suggests, “Let’s make Eddie change” (140).

Marci and Corin ask Randy to bring his father’s rope and duct tape to their house so they can tie Eddie up to his bed, though they don’t know when it should happen. Randy reluctantly agrees to help. They wait until a night when Delia is working late, and Eddie is drinking. Eddie teases Marci that she’s more of a boy than a girl; he undermines one of her wishes by saying she’ll never have a penis like his. When Eddie goes to bed, Corin brings Randy to the apartment. Together, the three children tie Eddie to the bed.