Tar Baby

Content Warning: These chapters contain scenes of potential assault and instances of racism and the use of slurs.

The day after the stranger is discovered, Margaret locks herself away in her room, refusing to come out. She misses her mother and the trailer she grew up in and believes that Valerian invited the man to stay for dinner as punishment for her wanting to leave with Michael. Sequestered in her room, Margaret is unaware of what is happening with the man in the house, and whether Valerian has moved to report or evict him.

Elsewhere in the house, Jadine shows Ondine the coat made of 90 baby seal pelts sent from Ryk as a Christmas gift. She insists to her aunt that this does not mean she is rushing into a quick marriage. Ondine, uncomfortable with the stranger in the house, is reassured by Jadine that Valerian will have the man gone by that night or tomorrow at the latest. Ondine leaves, with Christmas dinner meal-prep on her mind, while Jadine wraps presents. As she works, Jadine agonizes over whether she should get Michael a present and thinks of how much