Brother

After Michael dissects the girl’s dead body in the storm cellar, he sprays the floor with a hose. Reb chastises Michael for taking too long. Reb misuses alcohol, and he wants Michael to go with him on a “booze run.” In a stolen car—an Oldsmobile Delta—they drive to gas stations miles away, and Michael, who’s fast, steals alcohol while Reb waits in the car. Once, a worker pulled a shotgun on Michael but eventually let him escape.

The worker at the current gas station watches TV as Michael steals a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red. He confronts Michael, and Reb speeds away. Michael hits the worker with the bottle and catches up to Reb, who insincerely apologizes. 

Back at home, Michael, following custom, gives Misty a ring from the girl who the Morrows just killed. In exchange for giving Misty the girls’ jewelry, Misty lets him use her record player. Misty makes clothes and accessories.

Wade berates Michael for going out in public with blood still on his boots. Reb laughs, and Wade knocks the bottle of alcohol out of his hands. Wade perceives that the rushed outing was Reb’s idea and protests that he doesn’t want Reb to attract the police. Misty giggles at Reb, and Momma attacks her. Wade forbids further alcohol runs, but Momma overrides him. Michael notes that they’ve been stealing hard liquor since they were 10 years old.

The chapter focuses on the past and the eldest Morrow child, Lauralynn. As with Momma, Misty, and Reb, Lauralynn had strawberry-blond hair. Lauralynn and Reb were close, with Lauralynn referring to him as Raybee. Lauralynn read books out loud to Reb and her siblings—Shel Silverstein’s collection of poems Where the Sidewalk Ends and A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories among them. Momma would yell at Lauralynn, who thought their mother was angry due to sadness.

Reb worried that Lauralynn would run away to follow her dream of becoming a teacher and veterinarian. Upset, he killed a dog that they found by the road. Later, riding in Wade’s truck with his father, Reb spotted a four-year-old boy (Michael) selling rocks by the side of the road. He told Wade that he wanted Michael, who would become Lauralynn’s student.

In the present, Misty reads Harlequin romance novels. She has an adversarial relationship with Reb, but she and Michael are allies. In Michael’s room, Misty speculates that Wade won’t tolerate Reb’s wayward behavior much longer. She wonders why Michael doesn’t stand up to Reb. Michael claims Reb is “smart,” and he remembers Reb attacking him after he asked why Reb called his father Wade. In Michael’s view, neither Reb nor Wade outranks Momma. He just wants to keep Misty safe—postcards from other places, like Honolulu and New York, prompt dreams about living elsewhere, but he doesn’t want to leave Misty.

Michael and Reb drive to an elegant, peaceful little house with green shutters. They spy on the owner—an older woman whose “dumpy” style belies her attractiveness. Michael thinks the woman is too old for Momma. He asks Reb if they have the correct house. Reb says the woman is “perfect.”

The chapter returns to the past to focus on Michael’s first experiences with the Morrow family. When he first arrived, he cried often. Lauralynn wanted to name him Merrell. She also wanted to return him, but Momma said they couldn’t. Reb changed his name to Michael and told Michael that his first family didn’t want him, so he should appreciate his new family. Without the Morrow family, he’d be in the woods, where wolves or bears could eat him.

Reb’s narrative quieted Michael, and he and Lauralynn became close. They played with her bunnies together, and because of her closeness to Michael, Reb was confident that Lauralynn wouldn’t leave.

Now, Reb and Michael drive into downtown Dahlia and head into a counter-culture record store, the Dervish. Michael thinks about Misty’s record collection. As Michael steals albums for Misty, he thinks about her record collection, which is eclectic. She has the Beatles and more recent artists like Bonnie Tyler and the Bee Gees. Sometimes, Wade uses the player to listen to Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Reb flirts with Lucy, a young woman who works there and has strawberry-blond hair. He remembers watching Reb have sex with a different girl on the hood of the Delta. Michael bumps into another record store worker named Alice. She tells him the name of the band playing in the store, Stray Cats, but Michael doesn’t reply. She reminds Michael of Snow White, and that’s what he calls her, as he doesn’t know her name yet. He feels vulnerable and coaxes Reb out of the store. 

In the car, Reb ridicules Michael and promises to take him into town more often. Reb thinks Alice is probably “freaky.” As Reb and Michael pass a McDonald’s, Michael grows sad. He wants a Big Mac, not Momma’s meat and potatoes.

For dinner, Momma serves just steak. Wade wonders why his sons were gone for so long. Reb says they were observing the “new mark,” and Michael fell asleep. Misty makes fun of Reb’s alcohol use, and Momma pulls Misty’s hair. 

Reb warns Misty that she might get sent to their grandparents’ house, like Lauralynn. The mention of Momma’s parents and the eldest child quiets the table. Momma breaks her plate and yells at Reb before leaving him with a blistering “glare.” Michael tries to console his older brother, but Reb rebuffs him.

The chapter returns to the past, centering on a memory of the Cabell County Fair. Grandma Jean and Grandpa Eugene, both of whom were abusive, were visiting. Reb saw Grandpa Eugene sexually assaulting Lauralynn on the back porch. He also noticed that Misty’s skirt was so short that her underwear showed when she bent over.

At the fair, the siblings went on a variety of rides, and Reb stole a dill pickle. Inside the funhouse, Reb “terrorized” Michael. Nearby teens wondered if they should summon an adult, but Lauralynn comforted Michael. Reb felt like the mirrors “erased him.” Misty teased Reb for feeling scared, so Reb hit her arm.