Summary

In Chapter 9, Will sees his tattoos “like rings in a tree” (220). Each one tells a story about his life. When he first got out of juvie, he took odd jobs, but soon started selling again. While at a club one night, he got into trouble when someone thought he was carrying. He escaped the incident, but soon learned that although “You can run . . . whatever’s behind you is always gon catch up” (223). While in prison again, he started using and was caught after getting into a fight with another inmate. Although his memory of what happened is blurry, Will blames the other Will, convinced everything that happened to him “started back then, with him” (226, Serpell’s italics).

In Chapter 10, at the inn, Wayne considers “the possibilities” that Wayne is alive (227). Charlotte seems to be “the only one keeping hope alive...