Spilled Milk: Based on a True Story

Brooke is six years old and playing with her seven-year-old brother, Adam, in their kiddie pool in the backyard. They compete to see who can hold their breath underwater for longer, and Adam falls unconscious. Brooke and Adam frequently have to steal food from the pantry, and Brooke feels intimidated as she walks up to her father, David, who is across the yard talking to a neighbor named Cornelia. David is talking about how he cannot afford to support the family on a single salary after his wife Molly broke her back in an accident while working as a nurse’s aide. He reacts to Brooke with irritation, but when he realizes what is happening, he runs to Adam, whose lips are “the color of blueberries” (9) and pulls him out to perform CPR. Adam awakes and starts to cry, and Brooke feels jealous that he’s receiving all of their father’s attention. Brooke’s father insists that no ambulance be called, and that Brooke keep the incident a secret from her mother; Brooke describes this as “the first of many secrets” (10) she would keep for him. In this moment, she sees her father as the man who saved her brother.

Brooke is seven years old and asks her mother how she and her father met, which is met with the usual short, uninformative response about having met on a Citizens Band (CB) radio and marrying shortly after. Always in competition with her older brother Adam, Brooke finds him playing with his K-Nex and tells him how their parents met. Adam already knows the answer, but how he found out is not what Brooke was expecting: He stumbled across the CB radio that their parents met on a few months ago and took it apart, thinking it was broken, and when their father found out, he pushed Adam, who fell backward into a pair of scissors.

Moments later, Molly tells Brooke and Adam to clean up to go to their grandmother’s house. Molly piles them, along with their younger siblings Thomas and Kat, into the car. Brooke is excited, and when they arrive, she is happy to see her grandmother waiting for them. Brooke’s grandparents live in an old Victorian house complete with a garden and pool, and inside are photographs, paintings, and other sources of familial warmth. Brooke’s grandmother mentions her eighth birthday coming up and wants to take her toy-shopping, and despite Molly insisting against it, Brooke and her grandmother get in the car and go. Brooke initially picks out a Barbie doll, but before leaving, spots a journal in the clearance section and asks for it instead. Brooke’s grandmother is puzzled but buys it with the promise that Brooke will use it daily. Back at her grandparents’ house, the family eats dinner, and afterward, Brooke watches as her mother and grandfather argue about money. Back at home, Brooke is tasked with loading the dishwasher from the night before as her mother tends to the younger siblings; she can’t wait to pour all of her secrets into her new journal. Brooke’s father comes home soon after.

Brooke uses her best friend Alyssa’s journal when her own fills up and her mother refuses to buy her a new one. One day, Molly gets a phone call from Alyssa’s mother, who is alarmed about what Brooke wrote in Alyssa’s journal. Brooke and her mother go to Alyssa’s house, and Molly questions Brooke’s writings and drawings of sexual acts. Brooke breaks down in tears and promises to never write such content again.

Brooke’s father hears about the journal incident and secretly tells Brooke to never do anything like that again, then manipulates her by extending her bedtime to make himself appear benevolent. Soon after, Molly comes into the room, slurring after taking several painkillers. Brooke’s aunt and uncle arrive for a visit with groceries in tow, and Brooke goes to play with Alyssa. The girls see a police car pull up to Brooke’s house with Thomas inside, and overhear the officer tell Molly that Thomas was threatened and his bike stolen by some children with a knife. Thomas is visibly upset, but Molly reacts with indifference and irritation, as the eight-year-old apologizes for being robbed. The officer suggests taking him to the hospital, but Molly insists he is fine and sends him inside, where Brooke knows their mother will “give Thomas hell” (35).