bandonment causes Taylor’s life to completely change, for the better.Lou Ann Ruiz sees herself as a weak person, and becomes even weaker once her husband; Angel abandons her and her baby, Dwayne Ray. Lou Ann’s relationship with Angel was not a good one from the beginning. He always told her what to do and made fun of her, causing her self-esteem to be lower than usual. Lou Ann began to realize that her relationship was not great but did not know what to do about it; “She had been thinking about herself and Angel splitting up for even longer than she had been pregnant, but she didn’t particularly do anything about it. That was Lou Ann’s method. She expected that a divorce would just develop, like a pregnancy” (24). Lou Ann did everything for Angel; she never stood up for what she wanted. Once he lost his leg, she became even more available to him and his taunts: “Having nearly lost Angel made him all the more precious” (25). Angel has no consideration at all for Lou Ann, “When she got home she saw that Angel had already been home from work and had left again, for good. She was confused at first and thought they had been robbed, until she began to see a pattern to what was taken” (31). Angel enjoys hurting Lou Ann. He pries at her weak spots and makes sure to make the scar even worse. An example of this is when Lou Ann’s grandmother brings water from a creek to baptize Dwayne Ray, “She heard the chugging sound of the water as he poured it down the drain. The baby’s sucking at her felt good, as if he might suck the ache right out of her breast” (64). Angel’s abandonment leaves Lou Ann with the chance to live with Taylor and Turtle. Taylor gives Lou Ann strength to become an independent person: “’I’ve gotten so brave hanging around you. Six months ago it would have scared the living daylights out of me just to walk by ...
