Fresno, California, is both a temporary refuge for the Von Riesen family and the setting of a vivid childhood memory of Elfrieda Von Riesen’s first love. The family travels there after police come to their house; on the journey back, a boy Elfrieda has persuaded to be her boyfriend tries to leave with them hidden in the car’s trunk.

A refuge from the police

After the police arrive at the family home, Elfrieda’s parents refuse to let her be sent to juvenile detention or to a Christian reprogramming camp in the woods. The family instead takes a long road trip to Fresno to get away from the police. The narrator recalls that the camp may only have been a threat. By the time the family returns, the police have forgotten about the matter, and the account gives no further explanation of what followed.

The farewell on the road

During the stay in Fresno, Elfrieda persuades a boy to be her boyfriend. On the day the family leaves, he hides in the trunk of their car. Her father notices the extra weight as they drive off, stops, and hauls the boy out. Elfrieda and the boy immediately begin kissing; when her father cannot deal with the scene, her mother gets out and tells Elfrieda that they have to go. She tugs at Elfrieda’s arm while Elfrieda is still kissing him.

Eventually Elfrieda gets into the car, sobbing. The boy runs after the departing family for as long as he can, like the farm dogs around East Village. The recollection makes Fresno more than a point on the family’s route: it holds together the practical urgency of flight and the painful, intimate drama of a young romance abruptly left behind.