Summary

Barnes and Juggie share a cigarette in her kitchen. Barnes complains that Wood Mountain took Pixie away from him, and Juggie tells him Pixie made her own choice and he must give up. Juggie recommends her half-niece, Valentine, but Barnes says he is afraid of her: “she bites…I’ll get rabies” (354). Juggie drives over to visit her half-brother, Lemon, and wait for Valentine. She explains that Barnes is done with Pixie and wants to ask Valentine out, but Valentine haughtily insists Barnes ask by himself. After dinner, Barnes comes by to thank Juggie; Valentine had asked him out. Juggie advises him not to chase too hard this time.

On the way home from work, Thomas senses Roderick’s ghost running alongside his car. The next night, Rose comes to work with him. Rose and Thomas have always been hard-working, and the basis...