The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Ptolemy considers what to do before Robyn returns to continue cleaning: “He thought about Robyn’s ability to clean and polish and throw out things without hurting him or those things that he needed to keep. She was better than Reggie at understanding what was important” (73). Ptolemy decides to step into the bedroom himself even though the room frightens him. It was the place where his wife Sensia (aka Sensie) died, and he hasn’t touched anything since. Instead, he threw a tarp over the room’s contents.

Ptolemy believes that it’s the right time to begin making changes: “The right time was just on the other side of the bathroom door, but Ptolemy couldn’t bring himself to go out there. All his worst memories were out there: Sensie dead and her grave covered with maggots and worms” (82). Summoning strength and courage, he hauls the tarp off the bed, exposing cockroaches, dead mice, and other insects.

When Robyn returns, she assesses the mess in the bedroom and suggests that they go to the hardware store to get insect bombs for the apartment. When they stop at a fast-food restaurant for lunch, Ptolemy explains: “That tarp. That tarp was like the pall in my mind […] It was over that room, and at the same time it was in my head, coverin’ up all the things that I done forgot, or forgot me” (86).