A Rip in Heaven

“But tonight, they all romped like children. Together they abandoned self-consciousness and embraced their last vestiges of childhood.” 

Cummins emphasizes the innocence and childlike behavior of the Kerry and Cummins kids. Most of them are growing into adulthood, and this trip is an opportune chance for them to hang on to the fun of being children. This reflects the theme of the transition from childhood to adulthood, but the juxtaposition of this characterization with the brutality and tragedy of the impending murder also serves to build additional pathos for this event.

“So as Tom looked over at his cousin beside him in the Hornet that night, April 4, 1991, he felt an all-encompassing warmth and admiration for her. She was undoubtedly his favorite person in the world; he felt proud to know her. And he felt pleased with himself now too. Because thanks to Julie, he was learning to recognize the good traits in himself.” 

Cummins devotes Chapter 2 to explaining the close friendship between Tom and Julie, imparting to the reader why Tom adored Julie so much. She turned his life around completely through their friendship. Of course, this exposition also sets up one of the book’s central tragedies: Due in part to this close relationship, Tom became the police’s main suspect. Cummins describes the intricacies and the reality behind their deep connection, how they helped and supported one another as they transitioned into adulthood. This is Cummins’s chance to correct the misconceptions of the police and the media.

“Julie had smiled from pure contentedness and noticed that her cousin was smiling too. [...] This glorious river was the lifeblood of her town, the river of Mark Twain and William Faulkner and T. S. Eliot. Its currents ran like veins through her consciousness and like sparks through her poetry.” 

Cummins uses the Mississippi River to symbolize Julie’s vibrance and passion just before she is murdered. Cummins connects Julie’s creative passions to that of Twain, Faulkner, and Eliot through the river and the bridge, reflecting on her lost potential as a writer and poet. This passage also sets up the tragic irony that Julie is murdered and horribly discarded into the river from the bridge she loves so much.

“He preferred to imitate and mirror the qualities that surrounded him rather than dig deep to find out what qualities lay within his own person. Unfortunately, the very characteristic that led him to embody the goodness that surrounded him also led him to embrace evil when he met it. He adapted to his environment.”

In Chapter 3 Cummins imagines the thoughts and motives of the four criminals who raped and murdered Julie and Robin Kerry. Here she analyzes the psyche of Reginald Clemons, arguing that he followed others around him, even into great evil. While he was outwardly the most normal and respectful of the four individuals, he was capable of things that no one would have predicted from him.

“It was a Spike Lee-inspired poem about the universality of humanity, a plea for understanding and an end to racism. It was Julie’s and Robin’s wake-up call to their often lethargic, sometimes ignorant generations of peers. [...] Julie knew that the poem wasn’t her best in a literary sense, that it wasn’t very scholarly. But it was the one that very closely represented her life philosophy.” 

Cummins creates an ironic juxtaposition here between the message of inclusion and love in Julie’s poem at the bridge and the dark, violent motivations of the four men who are about to murder her and her sister. She also reflects on Julie and Robin’s artistry and lost potential as people who cared about others and wanted to better the world. Cummins focuses on this aspect of the sisters partly to set up the pathos of the coming tragedy but also to honor the memory of her lost cousins.

“And it was as easy as that. In a matter of moments, their four minds were made up. The four separate paths that had led them to this moment in their lives all joined and locked together in an instant [...] The decision the preacher’s son, the hoodlum, the entertainer, and the kid made collectively at that moment would alter the course of their lives and others’ forever.” 

Cummins reflects on the existential horror that, in one brief moment, four individuals made an undeliberated decision that led to horrible tragedy. The passage evokes the terror in the fact that strangers can make decisions that will completely alter others’ lives forever. It also elicits the question of what might have happened if the four men had simply decided not to rape and murder Julie and Robin that day.

“Behind her, Julie alit on the pier covered by nothing but the green plaid flannel shirt she had been wearing all day. She had aged decades since their family dinner just a few hours before, and Tom was stunned by the change in her. Automatically, Julie moved to her sister’s side, cuddling into her, trying to protect and console her.” 

The hyperbole that Julie aged decades in a matter of hours emphasizes the transition from childhood to adulthood. While most people are able to peacefully grow and change throughout their long lives, Julie and Robin had that taken away from them, and they experienced more trauma and pain in a matter of minutes than most do in their entire lives. They were forced to transition from innocent youths to hardened adults in moments, particularly Julie, as she tries to comfort her younger sister in this passage. She acts as a maternal figure to Robin in the last moment of her life.

He opened the back door of the squad car and wrapped Tom up in the gray blanket [...] That officer’s small act of compassion sharpened his pain so intensely. The contrast between that kindness and the cruelties he had seen that night solidified his trauma—made his horror all the more real and atrocious.”

The trauma inflicted by the cruel assailants has left Tom in a state of shock, partly severed from reality. Cummins uses the contrast of the police officer’s kind action to rip Tom back into the real, horrible situation. This passage also highlights the stark differences in humanity and morality among people, showing that some want to help while others only want to hurt.

“He curled and uncurled his muddy toes while he talked and his mother stared at them, and at the dirt caked into his ears. She wanted to take him home and wash him as she had when he was a newborn baby. She kept hugging him while he talked and patting his hair when he would break down and sob into her shoulder.” 

“He curled and uncurled his muddy toes while he talked and his mother stared at them, and at the dirt caked into his ears. She wanted to take him home and wash him as she had when he was a newborn baby. She kept hugging him while he talked and patting his hair when he would break down and sob into her shoulder.” 

“Tom stared into his lap and realized that his right index finger was stuck inside the cuff of his left sleeve, rubbing the flannel repeatedly. It was a comfort-seeking habit he’d had since he was a small child. [...] He was embarrassed when he caught himself [...] Then, after a moment, he purposely placed the finger back against the soft material and resumed the rubbing, hoping to suppress the tears that had inexplicably sprung to his eyes.” 

Cummins again characterizes Tom as reverting to childlike habits. This serves to reflect his vulnerability as he is driven to a police interrogation in his weakened state. This characterization creates sympathy for Tom in the ordeal he is about to face after he fails a polygraph test and the police name him their main suspect.

“With a suddenness that almost made him woozy, he realized how dramatically his life was mutating around him. Just hours before he had been sitting with his sisters and cousins; they had been playing games and harassing each other. And now he had to shake away the images of what Julie and Robin had endured on that bridge.” 

Sitting in the interrogation room at the police station, Tom reflects on how much his life has changed in a matter of hours. He has completely lost the innocence and goodness in his life in this short time. Moreover, he is about to be subjected to even more life-shattering trauma as the police soon treat him as their primary suspect. He has lost the innocence of his childhood, and now the world is about to treat him as a murderer when he is truly a victim.

“For the first time ever in his father’s presence, Tom felt like a man. This was a feeling he had been striving for throughout his teenage years and now that he was here, all he wanted to do was go back to feeling like a boy. The responsibility of what had happened to him in the last twelve hours, and what would now be expected of him in the future, settled on Tom like the weight of the world.” 

Once again, Cummins develops the theme of the transition from childhood to adulthood through Tom. Tom is constantly shifting back and forth from reverting to childlike habits to feeling like a grown man when dealing with the situation at the police station. Of course, when Tom becomes the police’s main suspect, his feelings of being a grown man will shatter.

“‘Well, it looks like we’ve got a real fucking problem here,’ the detective spat. [...] He came around the machine and bent to within inches of Tom’s face. He was red with rage. ‘You heard me. I said we’ve got a real fucking problem here,’ he shouted. ‘I want you to tell me the fucking truth right fucking now. You can lie to the boys upstairs all you like, but you can’t lie to the machine, and you can’t fucking lie to me, you cock-sucking piece of shit.’” 

This is the first turning point in Tom’s experience with the police. Until now, Tom has felt encouraged to help, and the police have been sympathetic and warm with him. Now, in a moment, a failed polygraph test has completely changed the way he is perceived by the police. Much like what happened at the bridge, Tom’s reality has been completely and instantly flipped by something he cannot control.

“For Tom, the worst moment of the entire ordeal had come when his father had entered that little room and encouraged him to tell the truth. [...] But with the revelation that his own father didn’t believe him, Tom simply and wholly gave up hope. [...] He didn’t care what happened now. It could not possibly get any worse. He didn’t care if they arrested him. He didn’t even care if he got convicted.”

The police’s deceptions have completely broken Tom and his family, which develops the theme of unjust police investigations. Tom’s own father now does not believe him because the police lied about the facts of his story and failed to validate his account with a medical exam. The police’s desire to close the case as quickly as possible has two dire consequences: it destroys Tom’s spirit and leaves the four real criminals to go free.

“It was just one of the many tiny but somehow significant changes that had taken place since that morning. She and her sister Tink had both become grown-ups today, with grown-up perks like the ability to curse or drink a Coke whenever they wanted, but with grown-up responsibilities too, like trying to protect their young cousin from the uglier, more distressing scenes surrounding her sisters’ violent deaths.”

Reflecting the theme of the transition from childhood to adulthood, Kathy and Tink have grown up in their own strange way. Tink and Kathy often serve to remind the reader that the tragic deaths have affected the family beyond Tom, Gene, Kay, and Ginna; they have also profoundly affected other members of the family. As Tink and Kathy have had unusual responsibilities thrust upon them, they have been forced to respond by growing up. Their support for one another also develops the theme of the power of family to overcome tragedy.

“He shook the proffered hand and turned quickly in an effort to spare the man a display of grateful tears. That man would never know the faith he had helped to restore in that brief moment. After everything, I can still expect to be surprised by the kindness of a total stranger, Tom thought, recognizing a very Julie-like and comforting naiveté in the notion.” 

Reflecting the idea that a stranger’s actions can change one’s life completely and instantly, a kind man offers Tom a half-pack of cigarettes. While a simple gesture, this sudden and unexpected act of generosity floors Tom after the cruelty and viciousness he has experienced from the police. In an instant, this man restores Tom’s faith in humanity while also reminding him of Julie.

“He knew what she was doing, trying to distract him from his predicament, but he was so caught off guard by the image of his grandmother partying around the house to Garth Brooks that the tactic was actually working. He was laughing instead of thinking about the fact that he was standing alone in a nearly abandoned parking lot with a broken hip, a broken life, and two dead cousins.” 

In a heartwarming moment, Tom’s Grandma Polly makes Tom laugh, even though he fears for his life. Despite all Tom’s worries, largely due to the deceptions of the police department, his grandmother brings him a moment of comfort and joy. This is one of the frequent moments in the book in which family helps Tom overcome this immense crisis, emphasizing the theme that family can overcome even the worst tragedies.

“‘Of course you’ve done nothing wrong. We’re going to get through this, you poor thing,’ she said to him. And, at the back of his mind, behind his relief and gratitude, he marveled at her ability to console him.” 

Ginna’s remarkable ability to comfort Tom, even as he has been accused of murdering her two daughters, strikes him. The reader understands that Ginna has also been supported by the constant presence and help of their extended family. This passage represents one of many moments in which the presence of family allows an individual to overcome the horrible crisis in which they find themselves, which is a central theme of the book.

“During that conversation, Ginna had learned that Robin had a feeling—no, more than a feeling, a sense—that she was going to die young. And she was okay with it. She felt at ease and she wasn’t afraid to die. [...] She asked Ginna to forbid anyone from wearing black to her funeral. She wanted bright colors and balloons. She wanted happy music, people who sang about the things Robin stood for and cared about.” 

As Ginna prepares the funeral for Julie and Robin, she is grateful for the strange fact that Robin had always thought about her own funeral. Appropriately, Robin wants a celebration of her life rather than a sad affair. Such positivity and passion is characteristic of Robin, and just as the book is partly a monument to Julie and Robin, so should be their funeral. This further develops the theme that victims and their families should not be forgotten.

“She talked about spending time with Julie and Robin on the evening of their murders. She talked about what they were wearing that night and about Julie’s car. She didn’t talk about the aching hole in her heart that had been growing for a year and a half. She didn’t talk about her daughter Jamie’s loneliness and confusion. She didn’t talk about crying herself to sleep every night, or her very personal terror—how her trauma seemed to get worse and worse every day while the rest of the world moved on without her and somehow expected her to eventually recover.” 

Ginna speaks as a witness at Gray’s trial, but she is only allowed to speak about the cold facts of the case. Inside, of course, the reality is that her world has collapsed, leaving her devastated and broken at the loss of two of her daughters. While the legal system seeks justice based on the facts, it does not allow the reality of the vast consequences of those losses to be heard.

“Family members grasped hands with each other and held their heads high while Julie’s words rang out through the breathless room, and all of their thoughts drifted back to a time when both girls were alive, back to the night when Julie and Robin and Hollee had first painted that poem on the bridge. In Ginna’s memory, her girls were still alive—young and vibrant and idealistic. [...] They were champions of youth, and their lives seemed infinite like the skies beneath which they stood on their beloved bridge, painting.” 

At Gray’s trial, after the reading of Julie’s poem on the bridge, family and friends remember Julie and Robin’s passion for peace and justice. The irony of the poem’s focus on racial equality and racial justice is not lost on the room, as Julie and Robin did not have an equal opportunity to lead full lives. The passage and the recounting of Julie’s poem is also a moving memorial to Julie by the author, a reminder that victims should not be forgotten.

“For the families involved, the penalty phase of the trial was awful in a surreal way. [...] The Kerry and Cummins families, along with many of Julie’s and Robin’s friends and loved ones, were invited to give victim-impact statements to articulate the devastation caused by the murders. It was an impossible task. Julie and Robin were gone, and no amount of eulogizing could even begin to communicate that kind of loss.” 

The penalty phase of the trial finally allows the victims’ families and friends to express their feelings of loss. Yet the cold and impartial courtroom setting is simply not an adequate venue to impart the severity of such a loss. Cummins notes that it is simply impossible to represent such a loss without feeling it oneself.

“She could make out the faintest trace of a J shining unmistakably through the new layer of pavement. It was Julie’s J. Beside it, her peace symbol was also largely intact. For the most part, the rest of the poem was illegible, but they were able to make out partial words here and there. They both felt comforted that a bit of the poem, a piece of Julie and Robin, was still visible at their beloved old bridge.” 

Julie’s poem on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is still present, at least in some way. The bridge, which acts as a symbol for Julie, her poetry, and her lost potential, still holds that meaning in some physical way. The passage also denotes a positive message that the bridge has become a safe, beautiful place, with Julie’s initial and peace sign still there. Despite the tragedy that occurred there, the bridge remains a fitting symbol for Julie.