How we cite our quotes: (Section.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Far from home, living in a white woman's basement, that letter made me feel buried, too. I opened the envelope and read the words. I was sitting at my linoleum table with my textbook spread out to the section 'Patient Abuse.' There were two ways you could think of that title. One was obvious to a nursing student, and the other was obvious to a Kashpaw. Between my mother and myself the abuse was slow and tedious, requiring long periods of dormancy, living in the blood like hepatitis. When it broke out it was almost a relief. (1.2.2)
Albertine and her mother, Zelda, don't seem to have the healthiest of relationships. Case in point: Zelda decided not to tell Albertine right away that June had died, arguing that she just thought Albertine would have been too busy to come home. Of course, that doesn't take a genius to decode: the implication is that Albertine acts too busy and important for her family, in Zelda's opinion. But since Zelda keeps things nice and passive aggressive, the "abuse" that she and Albertine heap on each other is "slow and tedious" rather than violent or direct.
Quote #2
Lynette's face, stained and swollen, bloomed over the wheel. She was a dirty blond, with little patches of hair that were bleached and torn. (1.2.58)
Unfortunately, there's more than psychological warfare and abuse going on in the novel—there's actual physical abuse as well. This is our first introduction to Lynette, whose husband, King, hits her routinely. In fact, soon after this moment, she gets attacked again.
Quote #3
And even now, King was saying something to Lynette that had such an odd dreaming ring to it I almost heard it spoken out in June's voice. June had said, "He used the flat of his hand. He hit me good." And now I heard her son say, "…flat of my hand… but good…" Lynette rolled out the door, shedding cloth and pins, packing the bare-bottomed child on her hip, and I couldn't tell what had happened. (1.2.61-63)
Apparently, the Kashpaw family is no collective stranger to physical abuse. As Albertine watches King threaten and then ultimately assault Lynette, she gets flashbacks to June talking about an unnamed person (likely her husband, Gordie) beating her.