Summary

Chapter 8 switches to Margaret’s perspective. She is overjoyed that Bird has found her, but worried about the time they have spent apart. The townhouse is sparsely decorated. The windows are covered with garbage bags to shield Margaret from neighbors and give the appearance that the house is abandoned. Margaret sets Bird up in a sleeping bag and lets him rest. At midnight, he wakes up—she brings him coffee and they sit on the roof, where Bird is shocked to see the vast expanse of the city. Margaret tells him that she once traveled the city on her bike, before she met Bird’s father, back when he was a student. Bird is intrigued; they go inside and Margaret begin to tell him her story while she works on assembling pipes and wires at a folding table.

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