Mosquitoland

Mim writes to Isabel to talk about the Claire situation and how “the older I get, the more I value bad examples over good ones” (264). Mim goes inside the gas station to get snacks and sees her picture next to a missing person report in the paper. Mim gets in the truck and eats a pack of gummies without talking. Finally, after Beck keeps asking her what’s wrong, she says that they need to make another unexpected stop.

They all get a hotel for the night. Mim takes a shower, and when she gets out, Walt and Beck are gone. She panics, thinking they’ve abandoned her, but soon they walk through the door with snacks. Walt soon falls asleep, and Mim and Beck stay up late talking on the couch. Beck thinks back to when he punched Poncho Man in the diner after he molested that young girl in the bathroom; he says the young girl reminded him of Claire because of the look being so “fucking pained, you know? Crushed. By the world” (276).

As Beck is talking, Mim falls onto the floor in a trance-like state, remembering the moment between her and Poncho Man in the bathroom.