Goodbye Days

Carver has his first appointment with Dr. Mendez. The two introduce themselves, and Carver explains that he is named for the writer Raymond Carver; Carver’s father is an English professor, and father and son share a love of reading. He tells Dr. Mendez about the accident, the panic attacks, and Jesmyn. He also tells him about Nana Betsy’s “goodbye day” idea. Dr. Mendez prescribes a low dose of Zoloft for anxiety but emphasizes that therapy is also needed. After therapy, Carver feels lighter and has a cathartic moment, crying in Georgia’s car. She tells him he’s brave for getting help and encourages him to continue. 

It’s the second day of school. Carver is gearing up mentally to return after his embarrassing panic attack on the first day. Getting ready, he has a flashback of sitting in history class with Sauce Crew and goofing off. At school, Carver runs into Adair. She accuses him of putting on a show the previous day. Carver recognizes that Adair’s anger comes from pain. She needs a target for her rage, and as she tells Carver, Mars (the driver) is dead and Carver is alive. Carver thus gets the brunt of her rage as she tells him, “I hope you go to jail.