I

Justine is nineteen and living in Toronto when she learns her mother has been killed. It’s November and she’s pretending to love chemistry when what she really wants to do is act. She works at a pub to pay for the scene study classes that she takes in secret. Her sister is the only one who knows. Justine never told her mother. Now, she never will.

In those last moments before she becomes a girl without a mother, Justine is discussing Angels in America with her teacher. She’s been assigned to play Harper, the unhappy wife of the conflicted Joe. Harper is Mormon, which is another way of saying she’s in a miserable marriage she cannot leave.

“Why does she stay?” asks the acting teacher.

“Because marriage is a trap,” says Justine. “It swallows you and you’re stuck.”

“You can’t play marriage is a trap. Acting is about verbs, not philosophy. What does Harper want from Joe? Does she love him?”

“I don’t see how she could.”

“Then why fight for the marriage?”

“I imagine she wants to go to the celestial kingdom.”

“Aha! Now you have something to fight for. Go on, Justine. Save your goddamn soul.”

It’s then that her phone rings. That Justine left her cell phone on would be a problem if they were in the acting studio, but they are in his bedroom – she’s been sleeping with Darcy Porter for almost a month. Darcy is tall and bald and his apartment is littered with the weights he uses to stay in shape. Justine steps around the dumbbells and takes the call in the kitchen. Uncle Duke’s voice is cool as he delivers the news. This is just his way but it’s the sort of resolve that lives in the genes. Justine can do it too. Her only response is to ask about her sister. Iris will be in a battle now. Justine and her mother were the only ones who became fluent in ASL.

“Iris is staying with us,” says Duke. “The accident was at the house.”

“Put her on.”

“Don’t you want to know what happened?”

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