Tanya's mother is beautiful. In Tanya's early childhood, her mother dates many men, usually three or four at a time. But when Tanya is nine years old, her mother marries 'Mr. Voice.' Mr. Voice's really Claude, but he's a big radio personality in Spokane, and everyone knows him as Mr. Voice. Claude and Tanya's mother marry, and they all move into Claude's big house. Claude's seventeen-year-old son Brian stays with them every other weekend as well. One night, when Claude and her mother are having loud sex, Brian brings Tanya to his room and clamps headphones over her ears. He tells her that she can come here whenever she needs to. Tanya falls in love with Brian because of this moment, and she stays in love with him for years afterward. Tanya's mother sets up guitar lessons for Brian with an ex-boyfriend of hers named Allen, but soon, just before Tanya turns twelve, her mother runs away with Allen to accompany him and his band as they tour. Claude and Tanya have an easy life together, and Brian comes over often. Claude helps Tanya when she gets her period and when a boy asks her out for the first time. When Tanya starts middle school, she notices her body is beginning to develop. She also notices the attention she receives from Brian's best friend, Clay, and she wears provocative clothes around him in order to make Brian jealous. One afternoon, Clay comes over when nobody is home except for Tanya. He grabs her in the kitchen, touches her, and kisses her aggressively. He tells her that she 'wants it' given how she looks. Claude comes home and yells at Clay, pushing him out of the house. He talks to Tanya and tells her that she does not ever have to do what a man wants. Tanya soon realizes that Brian is gay, and Brian starts bringing boyfriends around to the house. Claude is welcoming and supportive of these partners. When Tanya is fourteen, her mother dies in a car crash while on the road. When Allen comes to give Claude and Tanya her mother's belongings, Tanya learns that Allen is her father. Years later, Brian and Tanya talk at Claude's funeral about what a wonderful man Claude was—Tanya considers him to be her true father. Tanya has daughters of her own, now, and she watches as they mature into young women.