The Bean Trees

The point of view shifts to Lou Ann Ruiz, a woman born in Kentucky who now lives in Tucson, Arizona. The chapter focuses on the day that her husband, Angel Ruiz, left her. Angel was in a car accident on Christmas day that caused him to lose one of his legs. After that, their marriage gradually fell apart because Angel was accusatory and angry with others, often for no reason. Lou Ann didn’t try to change this but instead continued to act normal.

Lou Ann goes to her doctor for a checkup on her pregnancy. She hopes that her baby won’t be born on Christmas, since that will remind Angel of the day of his accident. The doctor tells her to go on a diet and sends her home. Lou Ann takes the bus home, noticing how her pregnant body prevents men from touching her on the bus and enjoying the feeling. She goes to the Chinese market to buy the diet food, and the cashier tells her that having a girl baby is like fattening up a new year’s pig—you do all of the work of feeding it only for someone else to benefit.

Lou Ann returns home to find that Angel has left and taken his possessions. As she examines what he has taken and left behind, a group of trick-or-treaters interrupts her, and she remembers that it’s Halloween and she forgot to purchase candy. She gives the children money and then goes to bed that night and cries, remembering a day at the ocean with Angel when her eyes felt the same way.

Taylor arrives in Arizona and, finding the novelty of the landscape amusing, immediately resolves to live there. After staying through the holidays at the motel, helping to change beds for money, Taylor has decided to call the Cherokee Nation baby “Turtle.” Turtle is nonverbal, and Taylor thinks she just has a developmental delay and is doing things in her own time.

As Taylor and Turtle enter Tucson, they’re caught in a hailstorm. Taylor pulls over, parking under an abandoned gas station awning to wait out the storm. A man is there, smoking, and warns her about the tarantulas that come out of their holes when it rains. Taylor dislikes the man and is eager to leave. When the hail stops, she pushes her car to start it but realizes that it has a flat tire. This leads her to stop at the first tire place she finds—Jesus is Lord Used Tires. The mechanic, Mattie, is an older woman who gives Turtle apple juice and peanut butter crackers. Taylor is impressed to see a woman working on cars and grateful for the help with taking care of the child. Mattie shows her the garden behind her shop, which is full of beans and tomatoes. Taylor still feels disturbed by the memory of the overinflated tire explosion, and she doubts her ability to keep the baby alive.

Finding a motel downtown to stay at, Taylor describes the different sorts of people who live in the area. She observes businesspeople during the day, sex workers at night, unhoused people who live at the bus station, and pretentious artists who dress in old-fashioned clothes and own galleries. Many people earn money by giving plasma, but Taylor doesn’t want to give up her own blood to live and can’t find a job at any of the medical labs.

She eventually befriends a worker named Sandi at a restaurant called Burger Derby. Sandi is obsessed with horses, so she’s fascinated to learn that Taylor’s from Kentucky. Taylor, however, lived in an area much too poor to afford thoroughbred race horses. Sandi suggests that she get a job at Burger Derby, but Taylor worries that she won’t be able to afford child care for Turtle. Sandi, who has a child named Seattle (after the racehorse Seattle Slew), recommends a place called Kid Central Station, a play area at the mall for kids whose parents are shopping. According to Sandi, as long as Taylor checks in every two hours, Turtle can remain there safely during the day while Taylor pretends that she’s still shopping at the mall.