Necessary Lies

Jane is alone at the office with the receptionist when Ivy bursts in, crying and angry. She tries to attack Jane, but Jane pulls her off. Ivy tells her of Mary Ella’s suicide, blaming Jane as she had William placed in foster care. Ivy asks Jane to promise that she will not be sterilized, and Jane agrees.

Jane tries to attend Mary Ella’s funeral, but Eli forces her to leave. He is angered by her attempts to empathize with their poverty. Eli suggests that Mr. Gardiner is William’s father and that the food he supplied Mary Ella was payment for sex.

Jane leaves and goes to the Gardiner home, waiting for Mr. Gardiner to return from the funeral. She confronts him about being William’s father, but he denies it.

Nurse Ann examines Ivy, who is fearful that the nurse will attempt to sterilize her at any moment. Nurse Ann says that because Ivy has been having seizures lately, she must rest until the baby is born. Ivy presses her as to whether Jane has successfully canceled the sterilization, but Nurse Ann insists she does not know.

Jane arrives at the office to discover Charlotte in a meeting with Nurse Ann; they will not let Jane attend. When Nurse Ann leaves, Charlotte explains to Jane that she is being let go from the job. Jane protests, adamant that the sterilization must not take place and that Davison Gardiner should be prosecuted for taking advantage of Mary Ella. Charlotte says that Jane cannot remain a social worker because she cannot maintain an objective position. Jane learns that Ivy will be admitted to the hospital as Ann thinks her baby will arrive early.

Ivy is making lunch for Nonnie. Jane arrives and asks Nonnie for permission to take Ivy with her. She instructs Nonnie to tell Nurse Ann—who will arrive soon to take Ivy to the hospital—that Ivy has run away. Jane plans to keep Ivy at her home while Robert is away at his conference; she tells Ivy she will contact a lawyer regarding the sterilization. Ivy is unsure whether she can trust Jane but goes with her.

Ivy and Jane arrive at Jane’s home. Jane settles Ivy in and then calls Gavin, a local lawyer and the widow of her friend Lois. She is dismayed to learn he will be out of the country until the following week. Until then, Jane must keep Ivy hidden and rested so that she does not go into early labor.

Jane’s mother suddenly arrives to drop off a loaf of bread. Jane chats with her and successfully prevents her from lingering.

Ivy and Jane try to pass the time by playing cards and watching television but both are worried. Jane tells Ivy that her sister and father were killed in a car accident several years ago. Ivy sees her similarities with Jane and knows she can trust her. That night, Ivy’s water breaks and her labor begins.

Ivy’s labor continues into the night, so Jane phones her mother. She explains everything to her mother when she arrives, and her mother finally agrees not to call an ambulance. Jane consults some of Robert’s medical books, and her mother successfully delivers Ivy’s baby girl.

Ivy names the baby Mary, in honor of her sister. She is worried about what will happen next, but for the time being, Jane’s mother provides her with diapers and baby formula.

Jane tells her mother the details of Mary Ella’s and Ivy’s forced sterilizations. Her mother agrees not to tell anyone that Ivy is at Jane’s home. They speak of Jane’s guilt over her sister’s death in the car accident.

Monday arrives, and Jane plans to call Gavin at 9:00 am. Ivy eats breakfast and tells Jane how grateful she is that Jane prevented the surgery; Jane stresses that the danger is not yet over.

Ivy heads back upstairs to rest but hears the slamming of car doors. Two police cars are in Jane’s driveway, so Ivy runs to the closet to hide. With her breakfast fork, she carves “Ivy and Mary Was Here” in the woodwork (311).

The police are accompanied by Paula, the social worker. They indicate that Lita suggested Ivy might be hiding there. Jane lies about knowing Ivy’s whereabouts, but when Mary’s cries give them away, the police handcuff her.

Ivy stabs Paula with the fork as Paula takes Mary. She injures one of the police officers as well, determined not to submit to them.

Jane is placed into one of the police cars, and Paula, holding Mary, gets into another one. Jane asks for Ivy to be placed into the car with her so that she can speak with her and calm her down, but the car pulls away with Ivy left standing outside of Jane’s house.

Jane is placed in custody but meets with Gavin, to whom she reveals the entire story. The next day, he tells her that Ivy and the baby have been placed in two separate foster homes, and the baby has yet to be evaluated. Ivy, however, has just run away. When Gavin tells Jane that Henry Allen is missing as well, Jane knows that he must be the father of the baby.

It is June 22, 2011. Jane’s stepdaughter Brenna shows Gavin and Jane, who are now married, the photo she has taken of the words Ivy carved into the closet. They are on their way to a hearing on behalf of eugenics victims. Neither Jane nor Gavin knows where Ivy is or what happened to her after she fled.

Brenna insists on stopping at a Starbucks on the way, which Jane finds unusual. At the coffee shop, Brenna surprises Jane with Ivy, whom Brenna has located. Mary, whose foster family renamed Rose, is with her. Ivy recounts her life with Henry Allen on an olive grove in California. Henry Allen has died, but he and Ivy had two more children and now have three grandchildren. Ivy fills Jane in on the lives of the Jordan children. She forgives Jane for what happened to William, and the group leaves to testify at the trial.