Matthew Walsh Timeline and Summary

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• In the beginning, Matthew Walsh is writing a letter to his little sister Emmy so that she'll know everything that happened in their lives when they were growing up.
• He tells her about how one day, he and Callie (their other sister) saw a man named Murdoch at the grocery store defend a little kid whose dad was abusing him.
• Matthew and Callie become obsessed with finding Murdoch because they connect with what he did—their mother Nikki is abusive and unpredictable.
• Callie finds Murdoch and gives Matthew his address on his birthday, but their mother snatches it away and goes to introduce herself to this Murdoch. She starts dating him soon after.
• During the few months when Nikki is dating Murdoch, Matthew and the other kids feel like they can relax because everything is going smoothly.
• When Murdoch breaks up with Nikki for being erratic and violent, though, Matthew is heartbroken.
• He goes to his father, Ben, and asks if he'll take all three of the kids in; Ben says that Matthew is being dramatic and that Nikki loves them.
• Nikki starts dating someone new and convinces the guy to go beat up Murdoch. Upon learning about this, Matthew goes to tell Murdoch about how his mother is going to try to get revenge in any way possible. Murdoch promises to help the kids get out of there.
• When Nikki goes to the hospital with wounds that she claims are from Murdoch beating her up, Matthew tells his Aunt Bobbie (who lives below them) that Nikki is lying. Aunt Bobbie goes with him to the police station to give a statement.
• Nikki returns home and Matthew bears the brunt of her fury for going to the police and betraying her.
• Unbeknownst to Matthew, Murdoch, Aunt Bobbie, and Ben are working together to try to get the kids away from Nikki.
• When Nikki violates her restraining order again, the kids spend a Christmas weekend with Aunt Bobbie and Ben—and Matthew is amazed by how happy their little family can be.
• One day, Nikki gets into a car accident while chasing Julie, Murdoch's neighbor. She goes to jail for paralyzing Julie and Ben and Aunt Bobbie sue for joint custody of the kids.
• Although Ben gets a bigger place in the suburbs and the girls move in with him, Matthew opts to stay with Aunt Bobbie so that he can protect her.
• When Nikki returns from jail, she attacks Matthew and scratches his face. She also makes lots of noise and graffitis the front of their house.
• Matthew goes to pick up Emmy from school on Fridays, and one day when he goes, Emmy is gone. Nikki has somehow figured out where she lives and has kidnapped Emmy.
• Matthew is in a state of heightened stress until he gets a phone call from Emmy in the middle of the night telling him that she's at the port of Boston. He runs out to find her.
• When Matthew he does, she's alone and covered in vomit. Emmy has obviously been drinking alcohol.
• He starts to leave with her when Nikki shows up. Matthew is so angry that he decides to kill her.
• Before he can attack his mother, though, Murdoch shows up and tells the kids to get in the car. He also tells Nikki that she should run far away because she's going to be facing a lot of jail time with that kidnapping charge.
• Matthew ends his letter by telling Emmy that it's been several years, and Matthew has just gotten into college. He and Emmy live with Aunt Bobbie, while Callie decided to stay with Ben.
• He tells her about how he had dinner with Murdoch recently, and Murdoch admitted that he also comes from an abusive home… and that he ended up killing his father when he was thirteen.
• Then Matthew tells Emmy that he probably will never give her this letter. It's just personal catharsis for him to write out everything that happened to him.