Laughing in the Dark (pgs45-68)

     These next few pages told of Gaines growing more. It told of how she had to change to to fit in and how that was a difficult ordeal for her. Gaines talked of her peer presures and how she mostly gave in to. Gaines also talked about her next move in to a different neighborhood (again). This time things were different though. These kids were mean to the new kids on the block to see how long they would last and fit in. This is where Gaines met Ginny her new best friend. She did not like this initiation process and with out Gaines does not know if she would have made it. They had a lot in common. These were in clothes, music, thoughts, and most importantly to them men. They each looked for men to fill voids in their hearts of which they felt that their families left empty. Gaines and her father did not get along and Gaines did not respect the type of man that he was. For these reasons Gaines and Ginny went after men opposites of their fathers. In so Gaines met Ben and Ginny met Michael. They skipped school to be with their boyfriends of which their parents didi not aprove of. This was only half of the problem that Gaines relizes as an adult. She wanted to rebell against her parents as much as possible and be just like Ginny. Once Ginny had kept what Gaines thought was the biggest secret she thought that she had to do that same. Gaines writes, "Ginny had already slept with Michael. I was surprised and hurt because she kept such an important secret between us until Michael told Ben, who of course told me, and I pressured Ginny to tell me if it was true. It was the begining of a change in our relationship, a slight moving apart. ... If we kept secrets from each other, that meant girlfriends were no different from boyfriends; so carrying this disapointment with me, I moved closer to Ben" ( Gaines 54). This showed Gaines becoming weaker and more needful to fill another void in her hart. Every time that this happens Gaines runs to a man letting them control her taking her down the wrong path which hurted her even more in the long run.