As always it's Jeannette who's acting like the responsible adult, not her so-called parents. Jeannette has had enough of her mom and dad making no effort to find work and provide for their kids like they're supposed to. To make matters worse, a man from child services has been to the house. Jeannette is understandably concerned that she and her siblings are going to be split up and sent to live with different families. That's the last thing that she wants.

Under the circumstances, then, it's perfectly understandable why Jeannette is so furious and why she confronts her parents. All she gets for her trouble, though, are six welts on the back of her thighs: Rex has beaten her. Jeannette had previously said that if Rex ever sided with her mom and gave her a whipping then he would lose her forever; and that's exactly what's happened here. Rex may not know it yet—or even care, come to think of it—but he's just lost his daughter.

No longer prepared to tolerate such disgraceful treatment, Jeannette starts making plans to get out of Welch at the earliest opportunity. She has no idea where she's going; she knows that she's going, and for now, that's all that really matters.