Chapter 23 Summary

One night after Shawnee and Redford move out, Zelda goes to sleep, leaving her father Nector's pipe on the kitchen counter. Her mother presumably left it there. Zelda dreams that her heart explodes from her chest and dances in front of her, splitting in sections in its fervor. She wakes trying to recover and realizes the dream is real, and she can't breathe. Her first thought is that she is dying of a heart attack, and the thought almost calms her as she prepares herself for the moment. Zelda makes sure that even in death she is the picture of perfection by propping herself slightly upright and wrapping her rosary beads between her fingers. In the midst of her preparation, Zelda begins to think of her regrets in life. At first, she can't think of any, but then she sees flashes of Redford's...