- And so we begin—Part 1.
- Toswiah/Evie reflects on how everything that made her who she is—especially her home in Denver—has been taken from her.
- She wants to tell her father he did the right thing, but she isn't sure he did.
- Everything about the tiny apartment her family lives in now is unfamiliar, and Toswiah/Evie feels there's no solid place to stand.
- Toswiah/Evie remembers a lot about her best friend, Lulu, including their jump-rope chant, which is where she got her new name, Evie.
- She remembers they were playing that game the night her father warned them of the consequences of his testifying.
- Toswiah/Evie notes how the boys here call her Neckbone and catcall her when she walks past them. This makes her uncomfortable, and she wishes she were braver—we wish those guys would learn not to be sexist jerks so she wouldn't have to feel uncomfortable.
- She remembers that Cameron/Anna was always brave, snowboarding and skiing when they lived in Denver, but Toswiah/Evie was always was a little afraid.
- She decides to write this story as fiction because no one can know who she really is or where she lives. Lives are at stake.
- Toswiah/Evie remembers a happy time, Cameron/Anna's tenth birthday, and how Cameron/Anna eventually got braces and felt beautiful, but how through it all there was the fear that one night Daddy wouldn't come home.