Tricks

Eden and Andrew have been together for six months. After having sex, they have become comfortable with each other’s bodies. Since she cannot go on birth control without her parents finding out, Andrew uses condoms.

Eden wants to see Andrew on Saturday, but she knows she must lie to her mother. Her mother has become more suspicious of Eden’s actions lately, so Eden tells her that she is going over to her friend Shania’s house to work on a school project. Eden decides to go over to Shania’s house before she sees Andrew.

Shania asks Eden if she has a boyfriend, and Eden admits that she does, although she does not mention Andrew’s name. Shania asks her more questions, and Eden decides that it would be nice to let someone know her secret.

Eden leaves Shania’s house after telling her about her secret boyfriend, although she does not tell her that it is Andrew. Eden meets Andrew in his car down the block, out of sight. As they drive away, Eden sees that the car on the other side of the road is Shania’s sister, and she notices both Eden and Andrew in the car.

When Eden gets home, her parents are waiting for her. Eden’s mother notices her disheveled clothes and asks what she has been doing. Eden says that she was at Shania’s house, but her father says that they know that she was with Andrew.

Eden tries to deny it, but her father says that they called Shania’s house to ask Eden to pick up butter on her way home. Shania’s sister answered the phone and told them that she saw Eden in the car with Andrew. Her father calls her a “trollop” and tells her to apologize to them. Eden’s mother tells her that Andrew is not in love with her and that he only wants her for sex. Her mother hits Eden.

The next day, Eden cannot go to church because of the bruises on her face from her mother. As soon as her family leaves, Eden calls Andrew and tells him everything, begging him to come pick her up.

Andrew holds Eden as she cries. Eden says that she cannot live without him, and he promises her that they will figure something out.

Andrew makes Eden go home before her parents come back from church even though she does not want to leave him. Andrew drops her off around the corner from her house, but when she turns the corner, she sees that her family is already home.

Eden’s mother asks if Eden was with Andrew, and Eden does not lie. Eden braces herself as her mother approaches, but she gently guides Eden into the kitchen and says that they need to talk. She says that the only explanation for Eden’s disobedience must be that a demon has possessed her.

Seth does not believe in demons or monsters, but he wonders sometimes if there is evil in the world.

Seth hates Mother’s Day since his mother is dead. He thinks about how he and his father used to buy his mother a card and flowers.

Seth does not want to say goodbye to Loren. When he gets to Loren’s house, he opens the door and cannot find Loren inside. He finds a note left next to the bed from Loren, telling him goodbye. Loren writes that the apartment is paid for until the end of the month and that Seth is welcome to stay there. Loren promises to write to him and tells him that he loves him.

Seth cries as hard as the day that his mother died. He suddenly feels angry that Loren said that he loves him because he knows that deserting someone is not the same as loving them.

Seth decides that he wants to get drunk and decides to find a sponsor to get him into Fringe.

Seth waits outside of Fringe, trying to get brave enough to ask an older man to sponsor him. He smiles at an older man who returns the smile.

Seth realizes that the man is the same man who stormed off after his boyfriend was flirting with another man. Seth introduces himself, and the man says that his name is Carl and that he can escort Seth inside.

Seth thanks Carl, and they walk into Fringe together. Carl buys Seth a mint julep, and they sit down together. Carl asks Seth who introduced him to mint juleps. Seth talks about Loren and eventually tells Carl about his whole life.

Carl listens and buys another round of drinks for them, along with some food. Carl tells him that he needs to put himself first in his life. He tells Seth that love is hard to find, but “lust will do nicely” (276). Carl offers to buy Seth dinner, no strings attached.

Carl takes Seth to a French restaurant, and afterward, Seth feels buzzed from the wine. Carl says that Seth can walk with him to his apartment and stay the night. When Seth gets out of the bathroom, Carl is in pajamas, and he offers Seth a matching pair. Seth understands what Carl wants, so he follows him to the bedroom.

In Whitney’s poem, she thinks about how an unnamed person told her to love him; even though she tried to, he told her to go away.

Lucas avoids Whitney after they have sex. She wonders what she did to offend him and wants to talk with him.

At school, a girl named Skylar asks Whitney if she is going to Lucas’s party that night. Whitney does not know that there is a party, but she knows that she must go to Lucas’s party that night.

Paige drives them to the party. Whitney knows that Lucas must have said something to Skylar to imply that they are not together anymore.

Whitney wonders what is wrong with her that makes people not love her. Everyone at school is at Lucas’s party, and Whitney realizes that he has broken up with her without telling her.

As Whitney makes her way to the kitchen, she runs into Skylar and Lucas kissing.

Whitney pushes them apart, and Lucas looks surprised to see her. Lucas asks what she wants, and she says that she wants to talk with him alone.

Before she goes upstairs, Whitney takes a shot of tequila. As she walks to Lucas’s room, she wonders if she should have told him that she loves him.

Lucas sits on the bed and stares at her with pity. Whitney asks him to explain to her what is happening. He says that when he found out that she had never had sex before, he wanted to” take her virginity,” but he thought that the “virgin sex” was bad. Whitney cusses at him for using her.

Whitney looks for Paige, but she finds her kissing another boy. Paige looks like she does not want to leave, so Whitney tells her that she will find another way home.

Whitney stands on the sidewalk, wondering who she can call for a ride. She looks for money in her wallet and finds Bryn’s card.

Bryn answers, and Whitney explains who she is. Whitney starts crying on the phone, and Bryn tells her that he will pick her up immediately.

In Ginger’s poem, she wonders why life does not come with directions. She worries about making the right choices but does not know how she can discover what is right and what is wrong.

Ginger has a bad day at school, and she receives a write-up for detention.

When Ginger gets home, no one is there, and she feels nervous. A random man appears in the doorway and tells her that Iris has told him about her. He tells her that Iris is with Harry getting ice cream with the kids. The man asks her to get him a beer.

Ginger feels a wave of déjà vu and knows that she needs to keep calm. She gets the beer, but the man appears behind her telling her that Iris said that she was beautiful. The man gropes Ginger, and she pushes him away. The man says that he will be rough with her without extra charge, and Ginger asks him what he means. The man explains that he paid Iris $200 to have sex with Ginger. Ginger fights back, but he rapes her. Ginger wishes for someone to walk through the door, but she realizes that no one will because Iris has already sold her. Afterward, Ginger realizes with horror that Iris must have sold her to Walt too.

After the man leaves, Ginger takes a shower. She knows that people would expect her to call the police, but she doubts that anyone would believe her story. After she cleans herself, she packs a bag, knowing that she must leave. She feels bad leaving Gram, but she knows that she cannot stay.

Ginger goes to Alex’s house to say goodbye. Alex lets her inside, and Ginger tells her about the rape.

Alex tells Ginger that they should leave together and that they can go to stay with her father’s ex-girlfriend, Lydia, who told Alex that she could stay with her whenever she wanted. Alex says that the bus ticket to Las Vegas is only $50.

Ginger goes home and greets Gram. Gram says that Iris is out for the night, which Ginger knows means that she will not miss the money. Ginger tells Gram that she is going to study with a friend that night.

Ginger slips past her siblings and finds Iris’s stash of money in her top drawer. She takes the entire wad of $469 and leaves a note saying that it is not even close to what Iris owes her. Then, she says goodbye to Gram and leaves.

When Ginger comes back, Alex tells her that her stepfather is her mother’s boyfriend. She has been allowed to stay with him after her mother went to prison as long as Alex has sex with him.

Alex and Ginger sit in the back of the bus, drinking rum from a water bottle. They kiss, and Ginger tells Alex that she loves her. Alex says that she loves her too.

In Cody’s poem, he wonders if flying is more like falling than anything magical.

Cody, Cory, and their mother stand by Jack’s graveside. The minister speaks about heaven, and Cody wonders if it exists and if he will go there someday.

At the wake, Cody takes Ronnie into his room. They have sex, and for the first time, Cody feels like sex is like making love.

As they have sex, Cody tells Ronnie that he loves her. She tells him that she loves him too.

Cory knocks on the door, and Cody tells him that he will be out soon. Cody lies in bed with Ronnie for a minute more, but Cory knocks again, and Cody knows that he should not leave his brother at the wake alone.

Ronnie and Cody get dressed and open the door. Ronnie tells Cody that he should be with his family and kisses him goodbye.

After everyone leaves, Cody’s mother dissolves into tears. Cody makes her a drink and decides to make one for himself and Cory. Together, they watch TV and get drunk. As Cody’s mother nods off to sleep, Cody tells her that he loves her and that everything will be okay.

Cody takes his mother to her bed, and he wonders why he keeps saying that everything will be okay when he does not know for sure. He looks at pictures of Jack in his mother’s room and wonders why he had to die.

Cody sees a stack of bills on his mother’s dresser. He looks through them and wonders how they will pay for everything, especially with Jack’s funeral. He decides to worry about it the next day and allows himself to grieve.

Cody decides to make himself an online account to bet on Jet Fuel, the horse that he saw on TV. He decides to set it up with one of Jack’s credit cards from his wallet.

Cody begins to feel lonely, and he cannot stop thinking about how Jack is dead. He calls Ronnie, and she tells him that she will come over.

The next morning, Cody’s mother and Cory are hungover. Cody knows that he needs to make more money because he lost his job because of all the time he was spending on gambling. However, Cody does not feel worried about it because he knows that his next bet will make him rich.

Eden feels that her life is meaningless because her parents only tell her to stop pretending that she is in love.

Eden’s mother drugs her with Lunesta in her tea and drops her off at Tears of Zion in Nevada. Tears of Zion is run by Father Samuel Ruenhaven, who specializes in casting demons out of teenagers. After a month, Eden thinks about how she hates her mother and how she will never return home. Eden hates that Andrew has no idea what happened to her. Eden remembers how her mother dropped her off with Father and told him to do whatever it took to take the demon out of Eden.

For the first three days, Eden was only given water to “flush” poisons out. After that, Eden’s food was restricted, and she was only allowed a small amount of sleep. Eden does not see anyone besides Father and the disciples. The disciples are men in T-shirts who bring food to the small room they keep her inside.

One day, Jerome, one of the disciples who brings her food, looks at her lustfully. Jerome gives her a couple of strawberries secretly and tells her not to tell anyone. Eden asks him why she brought them, and he tells her that he finds her beautiful.

Jerome says that he can get her other food or shampoo to wash her hair if she is good to him. Jerome holds her while she cries, and Eden realizes that he might be her way out of Tears of Zion.

Jerome kisses her, and Eden does not pull away. She hopes that Andrew will understand that this may be the only way that she can return to him. Jerome gropes Eden, but she pushes him away when he tries to go further, telling him that he will have to bring her something else if he wants more of her body.

After Jerome leaves, Eden asks for forgiveness from God.

Eden thinks about how her mother called her a “whore,” and she laughs bitterly because her love for Andrew was pure, yet her mother’s actions might make Eden turn to the commercial sexual exploitation of children to escape after all.

Every day, Eden meets with Father in the afternoon. Eden sees others working when she walks to the chapel.

Eden goes to Father’s office in the chapel. Father says that her parents do not want her to come home. Eden knows that she must escape because there is no other way out.

In Seth’s poem, he knows that people might think that he is the same person because he has not changed on the outside, but on the inside, he feels completely different.

Seth graduates from high school. He knows that he should go to college, but he does not feel like he has any purpose because he is going to end up being a farmer anyway.

The only good thing about deciding to farm is that it has brought Seth closer to his father. He sneaks away to see Carl, who spoils him with food and nightlife. Seth still misses Loren, but Carl helps him forget.

When Seth thinks of Loren, he wants to drink. His father worries about the crops because of the lack of rain.

Seth walks inside, and his father spins him around violently. He points at the table, where Seth sees a letter from Loren. Seth gets angry and tells his father that he has been gay his whole life and that he cannot change it even if he wants to.

Seth cries as his father tells him that he is glad that Seth’s mother is not alive to know. Seth says that his mother would have loved him either way, but his father says that he cannot accept it. His father tells him that being gay is a sin and that Seth needs to pack and leave. His father does not back down, and Seth asks where he should go without a job. His father gives him $40 and tells him that he will figure something out.

Seth tells himself that his father will accept him but that it will take time. He looks around his room and wonders what he will do.

Seth blames Loren, who should not have sent that letter to his house. Seth goes to his mother’s grave to say goodbye. He asks her to send his father a message to accept him and asks her tearfully if she still loves him. Seth reads Loren’s letter. Loren writes that he misses everything about him and that he will always think about their time with love.

Seth knows that Loren dumped him, but reading it again makes it harder. Seth feels consumed with anger toward Loren.

Seth drives to Carl’s house. When he sees him, he breaks down and tells him everything. Carl says that he can stay with him but that he is moving to Las Vegas soon. Seth wonders if he can convince Carl to take him too.