Keep It in the Family

The narrative returns to the stalker’s point of view, 40 years earlier, and reveals that both Precious Johnson and Abigail were kidnapped by the stalker’s parents and imprisoned in the attic. Before the parents can kill Precious, the stalker—who is at this point still only a child—hears Precious crying through the attic door. For the first time, they attempt to intervene with one of their parents’ victims. A brief, tearful conversation reveals that Precious believes the narrator to be another victim. Touched by Precious’s kindness, the narrator resolves to find a way to stop their parents this time.

Unfortunately, the narrator’s mother, who is becoming more volatile and aggressive, intervenes and imprisons her own child in the attic, vowing to murder the young narrator next. Bereft of hope and assuming that they will soon be dead, the narrator carves a message into the wall: “I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC” (194), reflecting, “If this is the last place where I will ever be alive and someone reads it, I want them to know that I tried” (194).