Summary

Penelope went to visit Ralph at the nursing home to tell him the news. The doctors had said that he had “less function than ever before” (302). He had been learning to use a transfer board to get from his bed to his wheelchair. Penelope believed he appeared stronger since moving to the nursing home, being fed well and only allowed a cup of beer a day. She told him that Mirella was dead and Ralph sobbed and asked questions. He insisted they could not leave Mirella’s ashes in an empty house in the Dominican Republic and that they had to go there to give her a proper funeral. Penelope said there was no point and that she would not know what they did or did not do as she was already dead. She told Ralph that she was not going to...