Summary

As Chapter Two begins, the narrative’s focus returns to Ti-Jeanne, who avoids predatory men and thieving children as she returns to her home with Mami, trying to ignore the increasingly desperate cries of her hungry Baby. The narration reveals that Baby has not been named yet, and that Ti-Jeanne and Mami are planning a naming ceremony to take place in a few weeks. Meanwhile, Ti-Jeanne arrives home, immediately feeds her child (who quickly falls asleep) and then turns her attention to Mami, braiding her hair even as she (Mami) drills her on her knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants and herbs. Ti-Jeanne wonders how much actual value there is in what Mami knows, recalling how Mami has stockpiled large amounts of “regular” medicines, brought to her as payment for people who trust her ways rather than that of...