Death
Ward writes, “From 2000 to 2004, five Black young men I grew up with died, all violently, in seemingly unrelated deaths. The first was my brother, Joshua, in October 2000.The second was Ronald in December 2002.The third was C.J. in January 2004. The Fourth was Demond in February 2004.The last was Roger in June 2004.” Bereavement is an omnipresent manifestation in Ward’s lifecycle in the years cited above. The deaths prompt unfillable and unexplainable desolation in Ward’s life. The plot dwells on the lifespans and demises of the four men. Moreover, the men’s blackness underwrites their precipitate demises.
Men
Ward elucidates, “Men’s bodies litter my family history. The pain of the women they left behind pulls them from the beyond, makes them appear as ghosts.in death, they transcend the circumstances of this place that I love and hate all at once and become supernatural. Sometimes, when I think of all the men who’ve died early in my family over the generations, I think DeLisle is the wolf.” In Ward’s family, the rates of male mortality are relatively higher. The men’s ubiquitous demises affect the women who are bereaved. Departed men are irreplaceable; their ghosts linger long after their demises. Comparing DeLisle to a wolf infers that the place is partly responsible for the men’s unfortunate demises. The environment in DeLisle is inauspicious to the males’ endurance.
“The Curse of Beauty”
Ward expounds, “From when she (Nerissa) was a toddler, my parents recognized the curse of beauty put on her. If we ever have to worry about being made grandparents early, my mother would say of Nerissa, she’s the one. Nerissa, unlike me, was popular in middle school, had boyfriends. She said she was head over heels for Rog, thought that he was the cutest thing in middle school.” Nerrisa’s alluring gorgeousness fascinates boyfriends early in her life. Due to the outstanding attractiveness she ventures into intimacy resulting in her untimely motherhood. A stunning lass is likely to be induced by the allure of premature sex owing to the number of menfolk who trail her.
