Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness, child sexual abuse, substance use, and sexual content.

Amy began to track Ollie’s patterns as she got older: Ollie would wait until salespeople were distracted and then steal what she wanted or needed. If she was caught, then she put on a show of mental illness and allowed herself to be escorted to a hospital rather than jail. It was after one of these incidents that Ollie reached out to Dad. He and his new wife, Anita, found a facility that might be suitable for Ollie. The Roxbury Workshop—often shortened to “the Rocks”—permits residents to stay at their own behest.

Before Dad took Ollie to the Rocks, he took her shopping and then to a movie. During the movie, Ollie left the theater, ostensibly to go to the bathroom, and never returned. A few days later, Dad had to cancel his credit card after the $10,000 limit was reached. He now tells Amy all of this, acknowledging that he has tried to help Ollie many other times, as well. He admits that Ollie mostly secures her living through the assistance of various men.

In the interim, Amy has graduated from Columbia early and has started her graduate studies at the Zuckerman Institute, specializing in the study of the “freeze” response (as distinct from the better-known “fight or flight” responses).