Vanessa Hates Worms
There was another kid Dante's age at Dawes Hill. She was a large girl from Boston named Vanessa. Dante heard bits and pieces of how she ended up living on the commune. He heard about her dad, a Timothy Leary devotee, who locked himself up in the outhouse with a gun for two days. One of the commune women explained to Dante that one reason he was at the commune was that several of the members thought that Vanessa needed someone her own age to play with.
It was a bit awkward for Dante in the beginning. Vanessa smoked and joked with the other commune members like an adult. Dante felt like a young boy in her presence. Eventually the ice was broken between the two of them when Dante discovered that Vanessa was afraid of worms and would squeal in a satisfying manner every time he waved one in front of her. Vanessa invited Dante to go with her to an underground movie hall to see Clockwork Orange. She had already seen it many times and had chunks of dialogue memorized. For Dante's part, it was his first x-rated movie, so that made him feel like he had accomplished something.