Table of Contents: Part IV (Spin, Chapters 66 – 79)
(Badsam, Goodsam, young Sammy, and
young Danny interact through psychodrama. Cheetos are involved)
(At the reunion, Samantha finds a
head-shot photo of her mother in an evening gown)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #1)
(Young Samantha helps her mother to
choose a gown, the mermaid dress)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #2)
(Ruby as a baby. After Samantha’s
mother becomes irritated with Ruby’s crying, young Samantha feeds the baby a
cookie and changes her diaper)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #3)
(Daddy Platts takes a photograph of
Rosie, Samantha’s mother, who is crabby and tipsy)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #4)
(Daddy Platts leaves Samantha and Ruby
home alone. Samantha fears a monster that “lives” under her bed)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #5)
(Playing Hide and Seek with Ruby, the
TV goes dark, and the monster lurks)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #6)
(While Ruby sleeps on the floor,
Samantha gets into her mother’s makeup and applies it all over her face. She
dons one of her mother’s wigs)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #7)
(Although Samantha knows she’s not
supposed to be in her mother’s closet, she does it anyway, making a mess of
things. She finds a curious box shoved in the back of the closet.)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #8)
(Samantha, getting drunk on Hamm’s
beer, tears open the box and finds some shocking photographs of her mother)
Chapter 68: (The Mermaid Dress #9)
(After his initial shock, Daddy Platts
picks up the gowns, shoes, beer, and photos. He helps Samantha wipe off the
smeared makeup. Tells Samantha the photos are not real)
(At the reunion, Samantha studies her
mother’s photograph and shows it to Sheldon. Sal and Nana also see the photo,
and Nana laments the fact that she could not save her daughter from alcoholism)
(In 1997, Sheldon announces that he
wants to buy a treadmill, which Samantha names “Lady Trodden Hill.” Samantha
smells something having to do with Mona.)
(Uncle Joe finds a packet of letters
and gives them to Samantha. Leads into a short story: “Are You EVER Going to be
Thin?”)
(At the reunion, Samantha again
rummages through Uncle Joe’s Treasure Chest and finds a birth certificate from
December 24, 1923, revealing an important family secret)
(At the reunion and in an awkward
interaction, Samantha introduces Sheldon to Father Dan. Leads into the short
story “God’s Wild Children”)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #1)
(Aunt Gwen drops off cousin Danny at
Nana’s house. Nana orders Samantha to take Danny to the garden to pick tomatoes)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #2)
(Samantha and Danny pick tomatoes in
Nana’s garden. Samantha becomes angry when Danny picks an unripe tomato)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #3) (***Trigger Warning***)
(Samantha and Danny engage in a
swearing contest, trying to outdo each other and are caught by Samantha’s
elderly neighbor.)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #4)
(Samantha and Danny play poker and
pitch pennies. Danny teases her about eating too much)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #5)
(Samantha and Danny, each in a twin bed, go to bed. Samantha is frightened by the nighttime noises. Danny seems to be afraid as well but would never admit it)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #6)
(In the morning, Samantha and Danny
fight over a box of Sugar Pops)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #7)
(Nana gives
Danny his own towel, one on which he can embroider his name; Samantha is
jealous and questions why she can’t have her own towel)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #8)
(Danny sews his name on his towel, but
Samantha becomes frustrated at her own sloppy embroidering. Asks Danny if he
would embroider her towel as well)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #9)
(Samantha and Danny go swimming. She
goes off on her own and enjoys how she, a fat girl, navigates the water like a
water nymph)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #10)
(When Danny and Samantha return from
the swimming pool, Nana says she is going out with Pappa. Fearing something
undefined, Samantha wants to go with them, but Nana says no. After Nana leaves,
Danny suggests a game)
Chapter 74: (God’s Wild Children #11)
Contains Sexual
Violence. Samantha and Danny play a kissing game that takes a turn for the
worst)
(Sal, Sheldon, and Samantha slip away
from the reunion and walk to the casino, which is nearby. After Samantha lends
her $5.00, Sal wins $500. When they return, the male cousins and uncles are
watching a baseball game.)
(Nana slips Samantha
a 1961 Special Delivery letter from Johnny Lawrence addressed to Nana and Pappa)
Chapter 77: (Special Delivery #1)
(Samantha explains how Special Delivery
worked back in the early to mid-1960’s and how unusual it was for her family to
receive a letter by Special Delivery)
Chapter 77: (Special Delivery #2)
(1964. Samantha is home alone when the
Special Delivery letter from Johnny Lawrence arrives; she is intensely curious
about its contents)
Chapter 77: (Special Delivery #3)
(Samantha gives into temptation: she
steams open the letter and reads it)
Chapter 77: (Special Delivery #4)
(Dropping the pages of the letter to
the floor, Samantha regrets reading it, reminding her of when the police once
visited her mother and Daddy Platts)
Chapter 77: (Special Delivery #5)
(When Nana and Pappa finally come home,
Samantha wishes they would notice the letter, but they don’t, so she tells
them. They hide in Pappa’s room to read the letter)
Chapter 77: (Special Delivery #6)
(Nana and Pappa take Samantha out to
dinner, where they tell her a sanitized version of Johnny Lawrence’s letter)
Chapter 78: (Special Delivery #7)
(Samantha receives a letter from Nana,
who is in California, announcing the birth of John Michael Lawrence, Jr. When
Samantha studies the photos of the newborn, she notices that he doesn’t look
quite right)
Chapter 79: (Special Delivery #8)
(As a young adult, Samantha receives an invitation to her mother’s wedding to Johnny Lawrence. She sends her regrets)