1958
Contains spoilersOverview
A young boy named Ryan hides under the kitchen table while his parents fight, coloring a night sky on the wood to cope. After a violent outburst from Ryan's father, Ryan's mother urgently turns their search for the car key into a pretext to flee, leading Ryan away from home at night. As they walk through neighbors' yards and fields, Ryan notices his mother's bruises and fear. The chapter ends with Ryan's mother confessing she still loves Ryan's father but loves Ryan most, implying they will not return home.
Summary
In 1958, Ryan, a young boy, hid under the kitchen table and colored a night sky while his parents argued in another room. The conflict escalated with thumps and crashes, and Ryan’s mother tried to drown out the yelling by turning up the television. A pound cake on the table tempted Ryan, but the tension suggested he might not get any.
Ryan experimented with crayons, proudly perfecting stars and faint cloud outlines, when his mother appeared with a red-streaked face. She crouched to his level and gently asked him to play a “hide-and-seek” game to find the Oldsmobile key, promising a drive if they succeeded. Ryan, wanting to protect her, emerged to help search through the kitchen, but they did not find the key.
Abandoning the key search, Ryan’s mother proposed a walk instead. She subtly moved something from a drawer into her handbag and urged haste as a toilet flushed down the hallway, suggesting Ryan’s father was nearby. Ignoring cake and crayons, Ryan followed her out the back door, even though he needed help with his shoelaces and disliked his secondhand coat.
They crossed into a neighbor’s yard despite Ryan’s reservations, and Ryan noticed it was cold and that his mother still wore her stained apron. By moonlight he saw a bruise on her face, and she chose a route away from the road, signaling they were attempting to avoid notice. Ryan, tense and needing to urinate, sensed they would not be returning soon.
As they moved deeper into the night through wet grass, Ryan challenged his mother’s claim of having permission to cut through yards. She began to explain that Ryan’s father “just needed—,” but Ryan, shaken and emboldened by fear, blurted out that he hated his father. This startled both of them.
Ryan’s mother stopped in tall grass and bluebonnet buds, kept watch on their surroundings, and responded that she did not hate Ryan’s father; she said she loved him very much. Then she took Ryan’s hands and told him she loved Ryan most, her voice trembling as she cried. Ryan imagined the purple shadows under her eyes as raining clouds, wet himself, and understood they were not going home—not even for dry pants—leaving behind the cake and his crayon night sky.
Who Appears
- Ryan
young son; hides under the table, helps search for the car key, leaves home at night with his mother, realizes they are not returning.
- Ryan’s mother
mother; bruised and distressed, initiates a key “hide-and-seek” ruse, packs something in her handbag, leads Ryan away from home, admits love for her husband but prioritizes Ryan.
- Ryan’s father
father; offstage but present through sounds of violence and drinking; hides the car key, his actions prompt the nighttime departure.