Looking for JJ

A new photographer named Mr. Cottis comes to take pictures of Carol. Jennifer and Michelle both go to play in the nearby park, and Lucy’s brothers Steve and Joe are also there. Lucy has been ill recently and hasn’t played with them. Michelle confronts them, telling them that they’re too old to be at the park and that they shouldn’t be smoking. Steve makes fun of Jennifer’s mother, leaving her confused and angry. Both girls return home.

When she goes up to check on her mother, Carol is in a schoolgirl’s outfit and the room has been rearranged to look like a classroom. Jennifer notices money and is glad that her mother has gotten paid. When Jennifer asks why she is wearing her outfit, Carol cryptically replies that “that’s what you do in modeling […] you dress up in other people’s clothes” (167). Carol is unhappy and goes to take a bath. When Jennifer returns downstairs, she tells Michelle that she has to leave for now because Carol isn’t feeling well.