The Perfect Child

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of addiction, child abuse, physical abuse, self-harm, graphic violence, and sexual content.

The first home visit with Janie goes smoothly except for one minor incident where Janie gets mad about not being able to eat. Christopher manages to distract her with laughter, and she quickly calms down. On the second visit, however, Janie becomes distraught and suddenly begins screaming at nothing while coloring. Christopher tries to hold her, but she bites him and spits on Hannah. When Janie starts banging her head against the floor, Christopher and Hannah have no choice but to hold her until she stops, which seems to take forever. Janie doesn’t stop screaming even hours later when returned to the hospital. Christoper and Hannah are shaken, but neither of them wants to admit that they’re scared.

Piper steps outside to get some air, knowing that the worst part of the interview is yet to come. She thinks back to the day she met Becky’s mother in prison. Becky’s mother was a rough personality who had a loud, booming laugh. As she described what she had witnessed and endured, she laughed.