Summer Sisters

Sweetie, Caitlin’s family dog, dies, and Abby replaces her with two terriers. Caitlin thinks about death daily, like Woody Allen and other “creative geniuses.” Caitlin wishes she were a dog, but Vix reminds her that dogs die. Caitlin vows to kill herself before she’s “ugly” and “old,” but Vix doesn’t promise to kill herself—instead, they cuddle in bed and fall asleep.

Sex consumes the house, and Sharkey yells at Caitlin for going to the bathroom in only a short robe. Caitlin reminds her brother they used to bathe together. Sharkey snaps: when they were four. While Caitlin and Vix are in the bathroom Gus knocks on the door. He likes Vix, and Vix thinks about pressing her breasts against him.

Caitlin and Vix work for a cleaning service. They never meet their clients, but their jobs show them who’s “constipated,” who watches “porno tapes,” and who has “regular sex.” Abby worries about Caitlin, Vix, Daniel, and Gus. When Gus looks at her she blushes. Abby invites Vix onto her new yellow kayak and talks to her about sex, alcohol, and drugs. She gives Vix college catalogs and tells her she could get a scholarship.

Three of Bru’s uncles have bought dilapidated cottages, and Bru and Von help renovate them. The uncles have a construction business, and their office is a “shack” with no water or electricity. Vix and Bru meet there and do almost everything but have sex. Bru likes teaching her and dreams about having sex with Vix and Caitlin at the same time. Sharkey notices Vix getting into Bru’s truck, and he fantasizes about Caitlin and Vix getting into his truck. Sharkey can’t sleep without masturbating, and Daniel thinks Caitlin puts on a show for him in the outdoor shower.

Caitlin gives Von “fellatio,” making him “crazy.” Abby wants to meet Caitlin and Vix’s friends, but Caitlin never wants Abby to learn about Von and Bru. Vix claims she and Bru are in love. Caitlin says all guys talk about love for sex—it’s meaningless. Guys won’t stick around, but Caitlin and Vix will always stay together.

For her 17th birthday, Caitlin throws Vix a party at an isolated beach on the island of Chappaquiddick, where Senator Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge, killing Mary Jo Kopechne. Caitlin thinks Kennedy was following his “pointer,” but she doesn’t know what Kopechne was following.

At the party, Caitlin, Vix, Bru, and Von smoke marijuana, and Caitlin gives Vix a gift: A white prom dress/nightgown. Caitlin tells her it’s washable, and Vix laughs. She puts it on and feels like a desirable temptress. The four hug and kiss, but Vix gets sick. She tries to swim away.

Vix dreams she’s dead: Her mom yells at her during her funeral. She wakes and packs her duffel. Caitlin pleads with her to stay, but Vix is scared—she could’ve been another “Mary Jo.” Caitlin calls Vix absurd and an “emotional iceberg.” She tells Vix to forget about NBO and wishes her a “mediocre life.” Gus just got home from having sex with a married woman in a bathroom, and he hears Caitlin and Vix fight and sees Vix leave.

Vix quits her cleaning job and becomes a server at the Homeport restaurant. She lives with Trisha on her boat. Abby and Lamb try to convince her to come back. Vix can’t move back, but she understands if Abby wants to give the scholarship to another person. Abby says the scholarship remains hers.

Trisha thinks Vix will learn not to “mess around” with “money folks.” She thinks Bru is nice—she had a romantic relationship with one of his uncles. Bru and Vix discuss the birthday party—apparently, Vix was kissing Von while Bru and Caitlin kissed. Bru swears Vix will “always” be his “girl,” and Vix and Bru have sex.

The Homeport’s popular menu items are swordfish and lobster, and famous people eat there. The servers resent Vix for not hanging out with them, but when they realize she has a boyfriend, they understand. She and Bru constantly have sex—she gets “the fuss.” Trisha asks Vix about condoms and if sex is “enjoyable” for her.

Caitlin is despondent. She quit the cleaning job and spends her days on the boat. Lamb worries about boys using Vix and Caitlin. He knows what boys “are after.”

Nathan dies, and Caitlin goes to tell Vix at the Homeport. Vix must go back to New Mexico. Caitlin wants to go with her—she wants to be her friend. Vix never got to say goodbye to Nathan. Her family didn’t think he was mortally sick. A summer cold turned into pneumonia, and then he passed away suddenly.

Around her family, Vix feels like “an outsider.” She wonders if God killed Nathan to punish her for having pleasurable sex. Caitlin is with her, and she held her hand at the funeral and helped clean the house after mourners left. Bru sends Vix an underwhelming card, and Vix replies with a wooden message.

Back at Mountain Day, Caitlin considers identifying as a lesbian. She applies to Wellesley—she doesn’t want boys around. Vix reminds her: If she’s a lesbian, the all-girl school will be more problematic.

Vix applies to Harvard, where Lamb went to school. Lamb writes Vix a letter of recommendation, and Vix writes her admission essay about Caitlin—she’s the most influential person in her life. Tawny feels that Caitlin’s family is turning Vix into a charity case. Vix snaps: Unlike Tawny, they care about her future. Tawny slaps her. Tawny worries she’s becoming bitter and hard like her own mom. Vix doesn’t want to be like Tawny—disappointed and mad at the world. Tawny thinks Vix should marry Sharkey—unless he’s “that way.” Vix gets into Harvard, and Lanie becomes pregnant.

At graduation, the Countess introduces Phoebe and Abby; Abby pictures Phoebe and Lamb in bed, and Phoebe thinks about Lamb holding Abby. Tawny mistrusts Abby, but Ed thinks Abby is sincere and Tawny is “crazy.” Vix wins a $500 award for academic excellence, and she acknowledges her “family’s support.” She looks at Abby and Lamb, then her parents.

Abby and Lamb encourage Vix to spend the summer with Caitlin in Europe, but Vix says no. Caitlin blames Bru and claims Vix cares more about him than her. Abby says Vix must listen to her heart, but Caitlin says Vix’s heart isn’t in control.

Vix wants to spend the summer at the Vineyard working and saving money for college. The scholarship came from the foundation: She earned it through her academic efforts. The trip to Europe makes her think of charity.

Bru’s mom dies of cancer, and he tries to kill himself shortly after. He doesn’t know how to tell Vix, but in the Vineyard, he kisses her, and he becomes the center of her universe. Abby tells Vix not to mistake sex for love. Abby did, and she married Daniel’s dad at 19. She didn’t learn to take care of herself. Vix will learn to care for herself: She has “goals.” Her yearbook quote was: “A life without goals isn’t worth living” (209). Caitlin didn’t get it, but Vix didn’t get Caitlin’s yearbook quote: “Tiger, tiger, burning bright” (210).

With Caitlin in Europe and neither Sharkey nor the Chicago Boys coming to the Vineyard, Vix becomes an “only child,” but she spends most of her free time in Bru’s cabin, where they have sex and, after, she dreams about Nathan.

Caitlin calls from Arles—the French city where the 19th-century painter Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear. She invites Vix to join her, but Vix says no. She also sends Vix mysterious postcards. Instead of going to Wellesley, Caitlin will take a year to study overseas and travel.

Vix invites Bru to dinner with Lamb and Abby at the house. Lamb likes Bru, but Abby remains worried. By mid-August, Vix grows tired and sick. She has two jobs—cleaning houses and serving at the Homeport—and she drives back to Abby and Lamb’s house each night instead of staying with Bru. She feels safer with them.