June, Chapters 8, 9 and 10 Summary

Joyce is just returning home when Eddie pulls up to the house with Ava. The sisters hug openly in their joy to see each other. Ava notes that Joyce has gained a lot of weight in the two years since Mitch died, but she rationalizes that everyone has something they lean on to keep from tumbling into despair. Since their mother's death, Joyce and Ava refer to suicide as a "tumble" because that's how a pamphlet on grief had described it, making the point that anytime there is danger of a person going over an emotional edge, any source of comfort is justified.

Joyce's life is full of comforting other people as well; she is a social worker with young black girls in the community. The group is called The Sewing Circus, not because of any domestic arts instruction...