All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Wavy’s testimony rattles the seasoned court reporter. It contrasts with other victim accounts from beginning to end: Wavy speaks Kellen’s name often and with affection, rather than referring to him by pronouns. The reporter describes Wavy’s signature pose, legs crossed, foot swinging. Wavy recounts graphic sexual details from the encounter using specific language, even noting that Kellen is uncircumcised. Brenda, whom the reporter refers to as Wavy’s guardian, starts to cry louder as Wavy says the word “clitoris” repeatedly, describing her pleasure: “She struggled with the word, said it three times to get it right. Or she said it three times to shock people” (241).

As Wavy describes Kellen’s climax, calling his name as she does, the court reporter looks up at her but sees all the attorneys looking down at their legal pads. Wavy announces that she was not raped and that she wants to marry Kellen. She insists the reporter record her wishes as part of her statement, as she wants Kellen to read it.

The court reporter calls the testimony disturbing, like a letter to a pornographic magazine, and doubts that it will convict Kellen.

Brenda’s plans to sue Kellen are thwarted by his poverty, and her book club devolves into her own personal support group. Brenda focuses little energy on caring for Wavy herself, even considering sending Wavy and Donal to live with their paternal grandmother—a woman they have never met—in South Carolina. Bill insists Wavy and Donal are ruining their lives.

Wavy pitches a fit and ultimately wins the fight to keep Kellen’s motorcycle. Soon, Sean sends a lawyer to pick up Donal to come and live with him, claiming that he is Donal’s biological father. After Donal leaves, Wavy hides in the closet under the stairs and stops eating. She writes letters to Donal and Kellen, but eventually Brenda shows her that her letters to Kellen come back marked “Unauthorized Correspondence.” Not long after Donal leaves, his letters come back marked “Not at this address.”

Donal leads a precarious life on the road with Sean. While Sean shoots up in a sandwich counter bathroom, Donal tries to buy a postcard and send it to Wavy. While he is trying to remember the zip code, Sean catches him. He makes Donal leave, saying they will finish it in the car, but he throws the postcard away. He warns Donal not to go behind his back again and not to contact Wavy.

Wavy feels dead after she loses contact with both Donal and Kellen. However, she finds solace in activity—tactile projects like typing and woodworking. She stops thinking about the way her story takes on new dimensions every time other people tell it. She focuses instead on school, on learning “all the ugly and wonderful things people had done in the last two thousand years” (250).

Wavy begins to watch human interaction with compassion. She leaves uplifting notes for a girl in her class who was raped. She watches Amy develop a crush on a female teacher. Youth group presents a bigger challenge than school for Wavy. Pursued by a vehemently religious counselor, Wavy jokes about not being baptized. When the counselor tells Wavy that God can restore her virginity, Wavy rejects the idea completely.

After the virginity conversation, Amy tells the counselor that Wavy is fine. When she says it out loud, she realizes how true it is. During the car ride home, Wavy tells Leslie, Angela, and Amy that she really is a virgin: She said otherwise in her deposition to be Kellen’s alibi. The blood the police observed came from Kellen breaking her hymen with his fingers. She tells the girls she wishes they had sex because no one could take that away. Amy realizes that both of the things Wavy loves—Donal and Kellen—have been taken from her.

Amy loses her virginity at a party after the girl she really loves gets back together with her ex-boyfriend. Wavy comforts her, telling her, “Nothing left to be afraid of” (256). Amy considers how much Wavy has lost and wonders if she still fears anything. She decides Wavy must worry about whether or not Kellen will still love her when he gets out of prison. She knows Wavy still loves Kellen. She watches Wavy kiss Kellen’s ring after Wavy walks across the stage at her high school graduation.

Kellen attends his parole hearing. Cutcheon comes to speak on Kellen’s behalf, telling the court how Kellen loved Wavy and took care of her. He calls out Brenda, saying Kellen did more for Wavy than she ever did. Brenda reads a statement, lying that Wavy stayed away from the hearing because she found it distressing. She claims Wavy now realizes she was a victim—that Kellen seduced her and took advantage of her. Kellen, reduced to tears, apologizes. He believes that he has done something wrong, and he believes he has lost Wavy.