Describe Charlie’s feelings towards his mother on the Monday morning. Why does he feel this way?
Charlie goes out for a run. When he returns, Charlie smells Peacock’s cologne and hears his mother moaning. He finds them pressed against the sink. Ma is crying as Peacock kisses her neck. The sight makes Charlie’s stomach turn. He goes to bed and covers his ears. That night, he comments, he turns sixteen years old. The next morning he can’t bear to look at Ma. Charlie is ashamed of her, commenting that his father has only been gone three months. He leaves the house without saying goodbye. Though he needs fresh air, the air in Richmond is full of the stenches of tanneries, rendering factories, cork factories, and a garbage dump.
