Summer of My German Soldier

Time has passed, and Patty has stopped counting the days since Anton left. She heads to her parents’ store after school to get some tape to wrap around her ring, as she wants to wear it around her finger and not on a chain around her neck. At the store she feels the power of the ring, and she shows it off, enjoying all the attention. She says it is solid gold and makes up a story that a beggar gave it to her in exchange for food. She revises this story over various tellings, insisting in one telling that the man wasn’t really poor and that his wife had enough money to buy the town; the man just wanted to see if he could find good people. Patty’s father is called over to assess the ring, and he determines that it is 24-carat gold. He demands to know where Patty got the ring; after she tells the story about the grateful man, he insists that she is “filthy” and that she “let him put his hands on [her]” (165). He beats her in the store, in front of people.