Discussion: Rites of Passage

Deep, Dark Secrets

Officer Johnson, from the Centervale Police Department, visits the family you met in Module 1 and notices Lucy crying in the kitchen; she reveals a bruised cheek when she finishes drying her eyes. Johnson asks what's wrong. Lucy shakes her head and walks out. Junior rolls his eyes at Johnson and says, "Lucy is upset because her stupid friend died—she needed to know that she shouldn't be fighting with a man, and she got what she deserved." Johnson looks at Junior curiously, and then Junior tells him what happened over the weekend.

Junior explains with pride how the business is run. Lucy is asked to solicit friends into prostitution. She tells them how she makes her own money and how easy it is to make a quick buck. Lucy invites her friends to her home for a sleepover, where the girls are sexually assaulted by Rob, Lucy's father.

What Had Happened:

Over the weekend, Lucy organized a sleepover for a friend who was interested in making some money. Rob tried to molest and rape her. Lucy's friend resisted, and Rob struck the girl. She fell from the bed and hit her head on the floor. Rob quickly carried her outside and placed her in the trunk of the car. He took her to an abandoned shed on the outskirts of the town and tied her up. Later, Rob returned and realized that although he had thought the girl was knocked out, she had actually died when she hit the floor.

Junior notes, "It's not like dad planned to kill her. She just wanted to fight; so he had to control her."

At Present:

Officer Johnson contacts social services as a juvenile was assaulted. The children are taken from their home for interrogation. They reveal a much larger scale of criminal activity that has been going on.