Unspeakable Things

The narrator, Cass, participates in a board-game night with her family, which includes her parents and her sister, Sephie. The last week of school starts the next day. Cass ponders the summer, looking forward to tanning with her sister. Her parents participate in a lot of physical affection and are attractive. Cass adores her mom’s sister, her aunt Jin.

The atmosphere in the room is very tense. Her dad massages Sephie’s shoulders even though it clearly makes her and Cass uncomfortable.

Cass asks if the family can drive to Canada to visit Aunt Jin. Cass feels close to Aunt Jin, who acknowledges Cass’s birthmark. Cass was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, leaving a large red scar. Jin often jokes that if Cass had been born in a different century, she would have been drowned because of her scar. Cass thinks that she pursued a closer relationship with her aunt because her dad spends so much time with Sephie.

Sephie reveals that she wants to get a job at Dairy Queen. Cass tenses, anticipating an angry reaction from her dad, who instead says that Sephie can save for college. Sephie looks unhappy, which Cass attributes to the mood swings that accompany her sister’s puberty. Cass feels guilty about going to bed and leaving her sister with her parents, who are drinking heavily.

Cass ponders the safety presentation scheduled for school the next day. Some local boys who were recently abducted experienced major personality shifts afterward. As Cass walks up the stairs to her room, she hears a knock that sounds like it’s coming from the family basement. Her dad attributes the noise to the house’s age.

Cass turns to a copy of Nellie Bly’s Trust It or Don’t, a book given to her by Aunt Jin. Cass plans to use the book as inspiration for her own writing. Cass debates sleeping under her bed or in her closet; she decides to sleep under her bed.

The next morning, Cass’s mom tells her that her dad is still asleep, so she must be quiet. Her mom says that her dad has been sleeping so late because he is working on a new project. After his army discharge, he decided to live in rural Minnesota. They moved to Lilydale when Cass was four. Cass remembers that when they lived in St. Cloud, she walked in on her dad having sex with her mom’s friend. Her dad spends a lot of time in the basement. He drinks often and eyes his daughters in a way that makes them and her mom feel uncomfortable. Her dad makes sculptures out of metal, but they do not make much money. Strangers often compliment her dad’s art and tell Cass that she is lucky to have such a talented father.

Since her dad is asleep, Sephie puts on makeup. Cass’s science teacher requested that the students bring planting containers; Cass asks her mom for permission to grab them from the basement. Their dad forbids Cass and Sephie from going into the basement. He angrily confronts Cass. He runs around the house in his underwear, making his daughters uncomfortable. The atmosphere is tense, and the girls are eager to leave for school.

her mom teaches English, cross-country and track, yearbook, and speech. Cass enjoys stopping by the high school with her mom; she is proud that her mom is adored by her coworkers and students.

The school secretary tells her mom that a boy in Lilydale was raped the previous weekend. Rumors are spreading that a gang from Minneapolis was responsible.

At the safety symposium, the school principal introduces Sergeant Bauer. Cass knows him more than she would like because of her dad’s parties.

Bauer reveals that the safety program begins with a nine-o’clock curfew. The tornado sirens will sound for one minute, and anyone left outside after that will be in violation of curfew. Mr. Connelly, the popular band teacher, calls the students to order. Bauer insists that students only travel in pairs, and the students seem to understand that something very serious is happening.

Mr. Kinchelhoe, Cass’s English teacher, compliments her on her paper. She flushes with pride and imagines winning prestigious literary prizes.

Cass heads to band, where she looks for her former friends, Lynn and Heidi. They used to be very close but cut Cass off, and now she feels socially adrift. The instrument room features a large, empty space that kids use to sneak around. As Cass gets her instrument, she notices Lynn crying and hiding. Lynn is embarrassed that she got her period. Cass gives Lynn her favorite jacket so that Lynn can tie it around her waist.

Cass and Sephie join their dad at Little John’s, a bar that Cass likes because it has Pac-Man. Sergeant Bauer is waiting to talk to her dad. The girls order sodas and play Pac-Man. Cass hears her dad and Bauer discussing the raped boys; she thinks she hears them say that this happens every few years.

Cass recognizes that her dad and Bauer are bad people. She thinks about Gabriel Wellstone, a boy in her class on whom she has a crush. His dad is a dentist. They ride the same bus, and once he sat next to her. Cass’s hands are freezing, and he offers her some mittens. She says she already has some, but he reveals that his mom asked him to give them to Cass. Cass is embarrassed by her family’s financial status. Cass compliments his paper-airplane necklace. He is very kind.

her dad drives home drunk from the bar. He is very unhappy after his conversation with Bauer; he says he is angry because of new construction in the area.

At lunch, a girl named Heather complains about tomato soup. Cass feels alone without her former group of friends. She sits next to Evie, whose eyes are different colors. Evie is organizing play dates for middle school students, and Cass feels embarrassed by the childishness of the gesture. Evie asks Cass if she has heard about the criminal activity.

Cass watches Gabriel sitting with the popular kids and feels a rush of affection for him because he is much kinder than his friends are. Cass talks to a new boy named Frank. Lynn returns Cass’s jacket and gives Cass an invitation to her birthday party. Evie says she thought Cass and Lynn were no longer friends. Evie points out Mark Clamchik, or Clam, who lives in a rough neighborhood called the Hollow. All of the kids who live in the Hollow ride Cass’s bus. Evie tells Cass that Mark was attacked last weekend. Evie’s mom works at the hospital where he was admitted.

Cass panics and runs to the bathroom, where she hides, sitting on top of a toilet so that her feet are not visible. She retraces her dad’s movements and reconsiders what he was discussing with Sergeant Bauer. Two teachers enter the bathroom, and Cass eavesdrops. The teachers wonder if Mr. Connelly is the Peeping Tom because he is gay and lives with his parents. The teachers say that if a boy is raped by a man, his sexuality will be affected.

Cass tells Sephie what she heard in the bathroom, and Sephie admonishes her for eavesdropping. Cass watches Clam, who seems more aggressive than usual. Clam’s friend Wayne has a crush on Sephie. Cass keeps an eye out for Gabriel, who does not arrive to ride the bus. Sephie tells Cass that she is failing chemistry, and the sisters worry about their dad’s reaction. Cass offers to help Sephie study.

The kids rush to the windows to see their neighbor in his green Impala clothing, thus earning the nickname of Green Goblin. He graduated high school with Cass’s dad. Karl, the bus driver, scans the group of unruly boys.

When the sisters arrive home, their dad is waiting for them. He is furious, and Sephie starts crying about her chemistry grade. He glares at his daughters, then storms back into the house. Cass waits for her mom to come home and calm her dad. He doesn’t hit the girls, which he thinks makes him a superior father. Cass hopes that her mom will make him a drink so he’ll calm down.

Surprisingly, her dad doesn’t explode at the news of Sephie’s failure. He pats himself on the back because he helped their new neighbors, the Gomez family, move a couch. Cass’s white parents look down on their neighbors because they are Hispanic. The Gomez parents are looking for babysitters; Sephie volunteers but cannot because she is failing chemistry. Cass volunteers. Her dad prods Cass about school and Lynn. Lynn’s parents attended one of her dad’s parties last year. Cass’s parents are planning their next party for Saturday. The girls hide their distress at this news.

Cass tries to talk to Sephie about the Peeping Tom and the curfew. Sephie is confident that the police will catch the perpetrator. Cass is not so sure. Cass is excited at the thought of conducting her own investigation to catch the perpetrator, but this enthusiasm wanes when she sees her parents planning their upcoming party. Cass and Sephie are both nervous about the party. Cass decides to sleep in her closet.

The grate in Cass’s room magnifies the sounds of the house below. She listens to her dad moving between the garage and the pantry, which has a door to the basement, wondering what he is doing down there. She is afraid to get up when her dad is awake and her mom is asleep.

The band room smells. Cass decides that she will investigate Mr. Connelly. Cass accidentally touches Mr. Connelly’s hand, and he pulls back. He asks her if she wants to sell popcorn for a fundraiser.

Cass feels insecure about her socioeconomic status. Once the band room is clear, she goes through people’s stuff and steals Heather’s compact. Clam catches her going through everyone’s bags. He approaches her, and she feels afraid, sensing that he is different than the nonthreatening kid she grew up with. She tells him that she knows he was attacked. He says he is going to hurt her. As she tries to get away from him, she knocks over a stack of cymbals, which causes Mr. Connelly to run in and check on her. Mr. Connelly asks Clam if he’s going to accept the yard-work job that he offered him. Cass gets called to the principal’s office.

Cass was called to the principal’s office for stealing Heather’s compact. The principal called Sergeant Bauer. The principal asks Cass if everything is okay at home, and Cass lies automatically because she was told that she and her sister would be separated if their home life was revealed. Cass receives detention and is forced to apologize to Heather. Bauer lectures Cass, and she recalls seeing him have sex at her parents’ last party.

Cass hopes that her dad will pick her up so that his rage at her will distract him from his rage at Sephie. Their dad takes Cass and Sephie out of school early so that they can pick up supplies for the party. He meets up with Bauer, and they banter. He tells the girls that he invites cops to his parties so that his parties won’t get shut down. Cass is so lost in thought that she runs into the Green Goblin. Her dad makes her stand behind him. Her dad and Goblin stare each other down. Goblin asks her dad if he has seen his missing dog. Her dad warns the girls never to go near Goblin’s house.

her dad tells her mom about Lilydale’s new curfew; two boys were abducted. Her dad says that the second boy was also from the Hollow.

Cass looks forward to summer. She decides that she will ask Gabriel to sign her yearbook. Cass is woken by a storm. She hears her dad clipping his nails and pictures him waiting at the bottom of the stairs before approaching her room. Her mom is working late, and Cass fears what her dad will do. He climbs the steps and Cass clenches her whole body in fear.