All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Wavy takes romance quizzes from magazines with her roommate Renee. Unlike the women from the ranch, Renee does not condescend to Wavy. Wavy talks about missing Kellen, especially watching him eat. She notices the way Renee eats—“darting little bites” (269)—and reflects that Renee conducts herself emotionally in that same manner, never able to satisfy her heart. When she visits Renee’s family with her at Thanksgiving, she is struck by the contrast between their wealth and their frantic way of eating, as though they were stealing the food. Wavy herself has stopped eating that way.

At the Dales’ home, Wavy sees how Renee’s mother peppers her with questions about her love life while refilling her plate with more food. After conversation, Mrs. Dale suddenly brings up Renee’s weight. Wavy thinks of her own mother’s behavior of turning anything good or beautiful into something dirty. Later, she writes to Kellen, knowing he will not see the letter. For her own pleasure, she describes eating mashed potatoes and pizza, remembering the way Kellen ate in front of her. She admires Kellen’s deliberate action and focus, a contrast to the Dales. She remembers that he kisses the same way. She thinks of him far away from her in prison but imagines how close they would appear from a great distance.

Renee observes Wavy writing not just to Kellen but to family and friends. Wavy uses a manual typewriter to write to her lawyer, and her typing strikes Renee as violent. Wavy writes to her lawyer regularly as part of her battle with Brenda over the use of the trust fund Kellen left Wavy. Brenda uses the money to maintain control over Wavy.

Wavy looks for Donal, writing to Sean’s parole officer, former neighbors, and anyone else who might have a clue as to their location. Renee describes Wavy’s dedication with wonder and admiration. However, it’s the letters to Kellen that move Renee the most—the way they come back, unread, like “a note in a bottle” (272).

After Wavy does not attend his second parole hearing, Kellen fully believes he has lost her. He knows she is over 18, so he assumes she freely decided not to see him. When his parole comes through, he moves to a halfway house. Once his time there ends, he struggles to find a place to live and has to file his address with the sex offender registry. He keeps having to move when his neighbors object, either attacking him or vandalizing his apartment.

One night, two men attack Kellen in an alley. A woman runs them off by saying she has called the police. Kellen runs into her again a few times, fixes her car, and has dinner with her. Beth shows Kellen the first kindness he has known since prison, but that kindness turns out to be limited and dry. He moves in with her, but she talks down to him. His situation worsens after he explains his conviction to Beth, but she does not ask him to move out. Kellen realizes he can’t let go of Wavy’s memory, but he stays with Beth out of desperation.

Wavy’s campaign to leave the dorm succeeds, and she and Wavy move into an apartment. Renee convinces Wavy to have a party. While she understands Wavy dislikes social interaction, she knows Wavy shows affection by cooking for people since Wavy treats each of Renee’s breakups as an occasion to make an enormous meal.

At the party, Renee meets someone Wavy has invited from the hospital where Wavy works doing insurance billing. Wavy meets someone from one of Renee’s classes, and Renee celebrates, observing that Wavy is “coming out of her shell” (278). Renee had been interested in Joshua for herself, but she now expresses equal joy that Joshua takes an interest in Wavy. However, when he comes to visit Wavy days later, Wavy refuses to see him. Renee begins to understand that Wavy’s behavior comes from actual trauma, removing some of the glamor tragedy has long held for Renee.

Wavy resists Renee’s attempts to draw her out into the living room when Joshua visits, but in the middle of arguing with her, she leaves her room and goes to the kitchen to retrieve Darrin’s phone number (the man Renee met at the party). Wavy implies that Renee is avoiding relationships out of fear. They make a deal: Renee will call Darrin if Wavy talks to Joshua. Renee asks Wavy how she can possibly know if Kellen even still wants her. Wavy goes to talk to Joshua, ruminating on Renee’s question. She conducts a stilted conversation while Renee goes to pick up the mail in a ruse to leave the couple alone together. Renee returns abruptly and calls Wavy to the kitchen.

Renee finds another returned letter in the mailbox, but this time the envelope has a stamp reading “Released.” Renee seizes the moment, hoping for a true love reunion. She brings the letter to Wavy, at which point her excitement overflows. Renee swings into action, making long-distance phone calls and reveling in the phone bill “Mrs. Brenda Newling” would see (284). The women nearly ignore the now-irrelevant Joshua. Once Renee extracts an address from the parole board, she explains to Joshua that Wavy is engaged and on her way to see her fiancé.

The women drive to Wellburg, where Kellen lives. Renee’s picture-perfect reunion scene dims a bit when she sees Kellen’s unattractive apartment. She also wonders if Wavy will leave and move in with Kellen. However, she forgets to feel sorry for herself when she sees Wavy watching Kellen.

The rain stops and the sun comes out when Kellen answers the door and sees Wavy. The lovers retrace all their former movements, but this time, Wavy starts by standing on a chair to make herself taller than Kellen. She holds his face in her hands and says “Orion” as she reaches for his belt, as she has done since she first touched him. The sex is so painful for Wavy that Kellen realizes she is still a virgin, having waited for him. Kellen reacts with confusion, confessing that when Wavy didn’t come to his parole hearing, he assumed she wanted nothing to do with him. He asks Wavy what he should do, knowing he might go back to prison just for being in the room with her.

The moment Kellen sees she still wears his ring, Beth walks into the apartment. Wavy realizes she has come into Kellen’s “home.” As Kellen jumps up to dress, she asks Kellen if he loves Beth, and he immediately says no. Wavy stands naked in front of Beth, but she shows no embarrassment or apology when she introduces herself. She realizes Kellen has not told Beth about her.