Without Merit

Merit hears her various family members leave for school and work the following morning. She wonders how ordinary families would handle the situation and finds it cruel that her parents and siblings act as if Merit did not attempt suicide the previous night. To her surprise, Barnaby enters Sagan’s room and asks Merit how she feels. Merit tells Barnaby that she’s not suicidal and her actions the previous night were impulsive. Barnaby is relieved but tells Merit he has scheduled an appointment with a therapist. Merit feels that her other family members should be in therapy, not her, and she believes everyone still blames Merit for the chaos and upheaval they face as a family.

Sagan stays with Merit during the day. Merit asks Sagan a series of personal questions and discovers he is 19 years old; he lived with his grandmother until she died a few years ago, he works and attends college in Commerce, where he majors in political science and Arabic, and he is apprenticing to be a tattoo artist. Sagan becomes more guarded with his answers when Merit asks about his parents and the meanings behind his tattoos. Sagan takes Merit out of

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