Henry Mayfield visits his wife, Lucy “Lulu” Mayfield, in a facility, where it’s cold and the tile floors are sterile. He urges her to remember, so she thinks of all the memories she has of childhood, their courtship, her babies, crying, and silence, despite the facility taking away any warmth that her memories used to summon up. Lulu wants to shout at him that she does remember, but she knows she’s supposed to be sweet and quiet, so she saves her screams for nighttime.

The narrative flashes back several months.

In December 1954, Lulu is often awake during the early morning hours, so she watches the empty house across the street. No family has stayed there longer than one year. The floor plan is the mirror of her own home; Lulu would have preferred it when they moved in five years earlier, but Henry never asked. She likes to imagine that the house across the street is hers alone. She recalls locking herself in a closet after her son, Wesley, was born because she needed a moment without being touched or needed.

The Mayfields are throwing their annual New Year’s Eve party tomorrow night.