The Art of Racing in the Rain p. 98- 200 (Blog 2)

       After she hits her head, Eve is rushed to a hospital in Bellevue. She was diagnosed with brain cancer and was given 6 to 8 months to live. She stayed in the hospital for a few weeks and Denny visited her every day. But soon, Eve came home in a wheelchair dressed in hospital gowns, looking sick. It was decided that Eve would stay with her parents, Maxwell and Trish, so that she could receive 24/7 care and Denny could go to work. At the last minute, Maxwell and Trish (the Twins, as Enzo calls them) ask if Zoe could stay with them and Eve. Denny reluctantly agreed, he couldn't keep a daughter away from her mother at the last time she would have to spend with her. So Denny and Enzo live separate from Eve and Zoe from this point on. In February, Denny, Enzo, and Zoe went on a trip to north-central Washington, to a cabin in the snowy mountains owned by Eve's relatives. Many of Eve's realtives were also there because Eve wanted Zoe to spend time with them since she doesn't. About halfway into their trip, Enzo noticed that Denny had an admirer. She was young, a teenager who had physically matured but who still acted as a child, as Enzo described. Her name was Annika, and she always tried to get as close as possible to Denny, but Denny didn't catch on, didn't have a clue. Toward the end of the trip, the weather reports called for a big storm to hit when they were supposed to leave. Denny didn't want to wait out the storm as the others decided to do, and neither did Annika. She claimed she had to get back to finish a group project for school. So she went with Denny, Zoe, and Enzo on the five hour drive back to Seattle. Nearing Seattle, Annika made a call to her parents saying she would stay over at Denny's and he would drive her home in the morning, without saying a word to Denny. At Denny's, Denny put Zoe to bed and Annika asked to take a shower (bear with me, this gets really weird, really fast). Denny was so tired from the drive, he fell back on his bed with his feet on the floor, asleep. Enzo also fell asleep, but awoke to find Annika standing over Denny. She watched him for several minuets before she took off her robe Denny had given her and stood naked. She pulled down his pants but before she could do anything down there, Enzo barked sharply and aggressively, waking Denny who saw her and leapt away from her. She exclaimed that she loved him but Denny refused, telling her to put on her clothes. She did, and asked her dad to pick her up, telling him that the bed was too uncomfortable. Several months later, in May, Eve passes away. The Twins approached Denny with an envelope, in it paperwork that says the Twins are suing for custody of Zoe. They have a whole argument about it, ending with Denny taking Zoe with him. Denny gets a lawyer named Mark Fein, who says they have the case in the bag. Soon after, the police show up at Denny's work and say they have a warrant for his arrest. They cuff him and take him away. He was arrested for rape of a child in the third degree. Mark Fein ended up bailing him out that night, but the Twins got Zoe before Mark could.

       Remember when I said how this book is told as a nonfiction book and through a series of events and not a story? Not anymore. As you have read above, the book is starting to show some rising action and is getting very interesting. I don't think that Denny and Zoe went to the cabin so that Zoe could meet her relatives, I think they went so that Denny could meet her relatives so that when Eve died, he would know most of the people at the funeral and feel connected. And then there's the whole Annika situation. I was shocked as I was reading that, even though it was made clear by Stein that Enzo distrusted her. Further more, I don't think that the timing that Annika accused Denny of raping her was a coincidence. The Twins were trying to get custody of Zoe, and there is no way they'd be able to unless Denny becomes a registered sex offender and child rape on his background report. Somehow, I think, the Twins are involved with this accusation.