Kellie and Lannie see their single mother killed by her boyfriend during an argument when they are 13 and 14 years old. They are sent to live with an uncle (their mother's brother), and soon detest his wife since she gives preferential treatment to her son and resents their being in her home. Violence is the only way the two sisters know how to handle problems, so they kill their aunt. Their uncle promptly takes them out of his home because he fears for his son's safety. The two sisters are placed in a sanitarium and diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder. After five years, Lannie and Kellie are 18 and 19 years old and released from Standard Sanitarium because "they are better," see their uncle has sold the home they lived in, and start attending classes at California University. At the university classmates like Kellie, but have difficulty with Lannie. Since Lannie and Kellie are very close, Lannie becomes jealous of Kellie's being able to make friends. Violence is how she deals with the problems. Kellie is "the nice one," but also has wicked tendencies.