Holly

Content Warning: This section of the novel features descriptions of rape.

Jerome calls Holly. He is headed to New York to accept a $100,000 dollar check for a book he was been working on, a biography of his late grandfather. Despite her fear around COVID, Holly is happy for Jerome. Shortly afterward, Pete calls to report his full recovery from COVID, though he remains quarantined. He’s found Ellen’s last known address, at a trailer park in Lowtown.

At the trailer park, Holly meets Imani McGuire, an elderly woman who was friends with Ellen. Imani tells Holly more about Ellen’s past. As a young girl, she was ostracized by her hardcore religious family for identifying as lesbian and choosing to eat a vegan diet. When Ellen was 18, a group of men from her church attacked and gang-raped her.

Ellen became pregnant from the assault and had an abortion, whereupon her family kicked her out. Ever since, Ellen had been on her own, working blue-collar jobs to support herself. Imani recalls that an older woman came for Ellen’s things a while after her disappearance, claiming that Ellen had gone back to Georgia. This claim didn’t sit right with Imani due to her knowledge of Ellen’s past.