While driving down a street, Christine Delahunt, a 39 year old woman, suddenly begins to hear laughter coming from the radio. In response, she begins to laugh herself but eventually switches the radio off, finding satisfaction in the silence instead. At the Franklin Food Mart, the local grocery store, a 50-year-old produce packer named Fritz who is deaf and unable to speak spills a bag of produce. The customers, cashiers, and other employees begin to laugh. Mrs. D. (Christine) is at the next checkout counter and suppresses her laughter after because although she too finds the situation amusing, she realizes Fritz is horrified and embarrassed. Here, the laughter that surrounds the store seems cruel. Houses in Franklin Village are built on three and four acre lots, with substantial distance so that the residents are not necessarily “neighbors” of each other. Often, residents of one home will not be able to see the facade of the next house much less engage with the people who live there. Many of the residents at Franklin Village are new and are slated to move in Spring. Everyone in Franklin Village is rich, including Mrs. D.’s family, which includes: Mr. D., sales director of W.W.C, Mrs. D., fourteen year old daughter Tracey, and eleven year old son Jamey. Mr. and Mrs. D. do part time public relations for Republican Congressman Gordon Frayne. One day, five girls from the Franklin Hills Day School are jogging together. One girl stands apart from the rest—fourteen year old Bonnie is not as skinny as the four other girls and is falling behind. A car full of boys drive by, aiming to run over Bonnie. She manages to dodge out of the way but she falls down, receiving a gash on her forehead. Tracey later tells Mrs. D. about what happened and while initially seeming to feel sympathy for Bonnie, she begins to laugh at the incident, finding it all funny. Three days later, Mrs. D. comes home to hear boys' laughter coming from the basement. She knows it’s her son and his friends but their laughter seems suspicious. Upon investigating she finds —to her horror—the boys (her son included) laughing at a girl who is sprawled in front of them, naked from the waist down, while they attempt to push a chunky, plastic object into her vagina. Mrs. D. lashes out by scolding the boys but especially expressing disgust towards the girl and storms out of the room. Mrs. D. expresses her disapproval to Mr. D. later when they are alone in the family room. She tells him that she is afraid and he dismisses her. He tells her to take medication as a solution. Mrs. D. brushes off her fear thinking she is just being silly when there is nothing, in fact, to be afraid of. Upstairs, laughter erupts from the television in Tracey’s room. A father of one of the girls who was jogging, Mr. H., phones Mr. D. about the incident. When Mrs. D. asks Mr. D. what they should do, Mr. D says that they will not get involved. Mrs. D weakly protests that Tracy is upset, however, Mr. D. pays no attention. Tracy no longer speaks about the incident. The other girls don’t speak about the incident. They also stop talking to Bonnie. Jamey does not invite Terry, one of the boys from the basement incident, over for weeks. He does this without Mrs. D. telling him anything. Mrs. D. takes this as a sign she does not need to reprimand Jamey for what happened since she believes he already understands why she is upset. Mrs. D pays a belated visit to Mrs. K, a woman within her social circle who has gotten cancer. Ever since losing her physical beauty to her deteriorating health, Mrs. K’s friends have diminished. Even her husband shows little affection towards her. When Mrs. K expresses her sorrow at her impending death and grief at leaving her family behind, Mrs. D. does not respond with any sympathy. Instead, Mrs. D. asks Mrs. K. if she really thinks her family will miss her when she dies. Mrs. K falls speechless. Mrs. D. excuses herself saying she has shopping to do. On her drive away from visiting Mrs. K. Mrs. D begins to laugh uncontrollably. She feels exhilarated by Mrs. K’s humiliation. On the 5 minutes drive home, she turns on the radio, satisfied in its noise.