All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Wavy suspects the visit of Uncle Sean (Liam’s brother) means trouble. Val refuses to let Wavy leave with Kellen when he comes by. After dinner, Wavy lies in bed listening to Sean, Liam, and Val fight about money. Sean wants Liam to loan him money, reminding him that he took care of Val while Liam was in jail. Wavy sneaks out, climbing down her trellis, and breaks into a house across the fields. She eats food from their refrigerator and from a candy dish. She encounters an old woman sitting in the dark who mistakes her for a lost relative. Wavy flees, finding her parents asleep at home and Sean passed out on the sofa, a needle next to him on the floor.

Butch works for Liam as a drug dealer and runner but professes distress watching the way Val abuses Wavy, pulling her by the hair and shaking her. He recalls Val screaming at Wavy not to talk to people when Wavy was only three; this is why Wavy does not talk. Butch then recalls Wavy taking Kellen’s place at the poker table and winning thousands of dollars off Butch and his drug runner friends.