I Know This Much Is True

Dominick stops at the car dealership owned by his former father-in-law, Diogenes Constantine, to see his former brother-in-law, Leo. Full of bravado, Leo brags about a part in a movie he has just auditioned for, which he is certain he will get. Dominick updates him on what has happened to Thomas and then recalls when he and Leo became brothers-in-law: After Dominick and Dessa had been engaged for some time, Leo and Dessa’s sister, Angie, suddenly announced that they were, too. At the time, they did not reveal the reason for the quick engagement: Angie was pregnant, though she later miscarried. She and Leo got married, then had a daughter named Shannon, and then were able to remain together years later after Leo had an affair. Angie convinced her father to give Leo a job as a salesman at the dealership.

After their first year of college, Dominick and Thomas—along with Leo and a boy named Ralph Drinkwater—get jobs doing outdoor maintenance work for the city. It is the summer of 1969.

Dominick recalls the year Ralph’s twin sister, Penny Ann, was killed. The Drinkwaters were poor and faced discrimination due to their Black and Wequonnoc identity; Penny Ann was poorly behaved and notoriously stole from other students.