Summary

Birdie awakens from a nightmare she often has about a Volvo like her father’s, owned by a sinister man who is coming to take Birdie away. She has been adding items to her box of negrobilia, including a piece of Samantha’s hair, a photo of Jim standing next to a black woman in Jamaica, a friendship bracelet she took from him, and a page from a library book about a religion practiced in Brazil called Candomblé. She wonders whether Cole practices this religion. She tries to imagine what Cole, now 17, looks like, and whether the two sisters would recognize one another.

While standing with her friends outside the swimming pool, Birdie is insulted by a carful of boys about being a Jew. Mona yells at the boys to stop, but later asks Birdie whether she’s “really Jewish.” Birdie says she can’t be...