Summary

Ivy, Mattie Fae, and Charlie sit in the living room. Violet and Johnna are visible in other parts of the house. Conversation in the living room reveals that Beverly has disappeared, and that he’s done it before. As Charlie and Mattie Fae bicker over whether Mattie Fae was right to encourage Violet to throw Beverly out of the marriage the first time he left, Ivy comments that this time feels different to her. Further bickering conversation reveals that the shades over the windows have been taped shut for two years (Mattie Fae starts to open them over Charlie’s protests); that Ivy doesn’t know which of her parents had the idea to cover the windows; and that Charlie sees similarities in attitude and mental abilities between Beverly and his and Mattie Fae’s son Little Charlie.

Violet appears, and tells the...