"Middlesex" Chapter- Key passage response

Chapter 3, “Middlesex”, delves into the relationship between Lefty and Callie. As a young child, Callie spent much of her time hanging out with her grandfather, who would take her on exciting car rides, walks around the neighborhood and would always make her laugh. Callie says, “We didn’t need to speak to each other. We understood each other without speaking. But then a terrible thing happened” (261). This quote reveals that the relationship Callie had with her grandfather was unique. They didn’t talk all the time but they had a connection with each other that helped build their bond. When Callie mentions a “terrible thing” that happened, Lefty had suffered a spatial disorientation while taking a walk with her. She notices that she sees fear in his eyes as he is laying down- which is something she hadn’t seen in her grandfather before. She says, “I suddenly can see things about my grandfather I should be too young to see” (262). Callie soon after befriends a girl living in her neighborhood, Clementine. When Clementine was over at Callie’s house one day they took a bath. They began to play innocently yet sexually with each other as they were “I fall between her legs, I fall on top of her, we sink…and then were twirling, spinning in the water, me on top, then her, then me, giggling, and making bird cries” (266). Engulfed in all the fun Callie is having, she suddenly realizes her Grandfather is watching them. Clementine is quick to reassure him they were only playing “water ballet” (266), however he does not move. Lefty had experienced another stroke. Callie was full of regret, she explains “…while in the other a seven year-old girl is also praying, praying for forgiveness, because it was clear to me that I was responsible. It was what I did… what Lefty saw… And I am promising never to do anything like that again…” (267). It is clear that Callie is traumatized by this experience with her Grandfather. As a seven year old she understands that what she was doing with Clementine was wrong, and she instantly felt embarrassed and wrong about it when her Grandfather saw. Because of Callie’s strong bond with her Grandfather she feels responsible for his stroke and promises to never do something like that again. This is an important moment in Callie’s life because she believes the way she was playing with Clementine was wrong and caused Lefty’s stroke. Callie makes a promise that will shape the way she grows up.