Brother

Misty plays music, but when she plays the song by The Cure, Michael becomes uncomfortable. She adds to his unease by crawling onto his mattress and exposing her thighs. She asks about Alice and why he chose Alice over her. She complains that Michael gets to leave while she’s stuck at home, where Momma threatens her. Michael remembers how he and Misty became close after Lauralynn’s murder. He gives her the M pedant. He says the M stands for Misty, but she says it stands for Michael.

Reb returns and wants to go to the Dervish with Michael. In the car, they argue over whether Michael should bring back The Cure single. Feeling guilty about Misty, Michael claims he doesn’t want to go to the record store anymore. Reb claims Misty is “sick” and calls her a “whore” again. Michael admits that he wants to talk to Alice, but Reb realizes he has something to do, so he drives home.

Michael rushes out of the car and tells Misty that they must leave. Using dialogue from The Shining, Reb announces his presence. He violently pulls Misty’s arm and punches her ribs. Before Michael gathers the courage to intervene, Momma appears, and Reb tells Momma that Misty is a “disease,” so she’s “gone.”

Reb reveals that Misty tried to have sex with Michael. Michael denies it, but Momma accuses Michael of lying. Misty declares that she’s a “filthy whore.” She wants Momma to kill her, and Momma does. Later, alone, Michael embraces his dead sister.

The chapter returns to the past and focuses on Reb’s relationship with the unnamed woman who lived in the little house with green shutters. The woman’s name was Bonnie Rasmussen. Once beautiful, she was a “depressed widow,” her life centered on reading, lowbrow TV, and birds.

Reb entered her life when he pretended to run out of gas near her house. He returned with flowers he bought at the gas station. The visits continued for a year and included gifts for her birthday and holidays. The night he killed her, Bonnie offered him cheesecake before going into her bedroom to change. Reb followed her into her bedroom. Bonnie didn’t want to have sex with him. If she knew he wanted sex, she would have ended the relationship. Reb rapes Bonnie, referring to her as his “project” and “masterpiece.”

Instead of dissecting Misty in the cellar, Michael buries her on her favorite hill. Using wood, he makes a cross. He sleeps near the grave and feels like a failure. He went along with Momma and Reb to be a good family member and keep Misty safe. He realizes Misty was always in danger until now.

Back at the farmhouse, Momma and Wade are indifferent to Misty’s death. Reb teases him with references to The Shining. Michael asks Reb if he cares, and Reb alludes to Lauralynn through Winnie the Pooh. Michael calls Reb a “psycho,” and Reb applies the label to Michael.

In the Delta, on the way to Dervish, Reb says Misty was someone else. He compares Misty to the possessed girl in The Exorcist. Michael forgot to bring The Cure single, but Reb claims it doesn’t matter. He says that nothing matters to Michael because Michael lacks “free will.”

Reb brings up Misty, and Michael suggests visiting Lauralynn in North Carolina. Reb ridicules the idea and reinforces Grandma Jean and Grandpa Eugene’s brutality. Michael wonders if Momma kills the girls to deal with the trauma caused by her parents. He considers Momma a “victim” and returns to the idea that the Morrows protect him. Nevertheless, he feels trapped.

Outside the Dervish, Alice notices Michael’s bleak look. He tells her to leave Dahlia, but Alice doesn’t want to abandon Lucy. They kiss again, and Alice gives him a birthday present—a little book of her comics. By Misty’s grave, Michael reads the story, which features him and the phrase, “I should really quit my job” (392).

The chapter details Reb’s relationship with Lucy. Unlike the hitchhiking young woman, Lucy wasn’t the kind of person who could easily disappear. She had friends and family, and she was uncommonly attractive. He pretended to like Paul McCartney and Billy Joel, and he embraced the role as her boyfriend. He closely watched Alice and told Alice about Michael. Lucy grew tired of having sex in the storage room, so Reb invited her and Alice to his home for Michael’s surprise birthday party.

Returning to the present, Reb arrives at Lucy and Alice’s apartment. Lucy wears blue jeans and a halter top, but Alice wears a punk outfit. Lucy thinks Alice is overdoing it, but Reb claims the clothes are perfect.