Spit
- Gram is totally thrilled by the kiss between Sal and Ben. She's been waiting for it for ages.
- But Sal is determined to finish telling Phoebe's story to her grandparents, so she keeps right on going.
- After kissing Ben at the hospital, Sal goes back to the bus stop where she finds a very moody Phoebe. She is mad that Sal left her there at the university, staring at her mother and the lunatic.
- Sal doesn't tell Phoebe where she's been or the fact that she's been kissing Ben Finney.
- She does, however, ask Phoebe what she's going to do now that she knows where her mother is.
- But Phoebe's too mad to deal with the whole thing. She tells Sal that she doesn't care about her mom anymore: "'I'm sick of it. My mother can stay there for all I care. She doesn't need me. She doesn't need any of us'" (38.11). Ugh, poor Phoebe.
- When they get back to Euclid, Prudence tells Phoebe that her mother has finally called home. Mrs. Winterbottom has told Prudence that she's coming home tomorrow and that she's bringing someone with her. Mrs. Winterbottom asks Prudence to tell Mr. Winterbottom not to make any "prejudgments." What in the world does that mean?
- Phoebe is sad and angry and doesn't tell her sister or father what she's seen that day.
- When Sal comes home, she finds Mrs. Cadaver and her father on the porch. Mrs. Cadaver tries to sweet talk Sal, but Sal won't have it.
- Mrs. Cadaver leaves, and Sal tells her father about Mrs. Winterbottom. Sal's dad says he's glad Mrs. Winterbottom is coming home, and then he stares out the window in a sad kind of way, probably thinking about her mother, his wife.