Summary

In Chapter 5, Alex gives more information about her daily life. Her mother works with strings, calculating the knots she creates with mathematical equations. She makes beautiful things for her home and for Alex. One day, George is away “on a business trip,” though “my mother's lower lip trembled when she said that” (33). Alex is excited when Marla arrives to drop off Beatrice. She is playing with Beatrice when Marla and Bertha argue. During that conversation, all the knots Bertha has made – curtains, mittens, and more – seem to rearrange. At the end of that, Marla hugs Alex and kisses Beatrice. Alex notes that Marla's eyes seem gold and cannot remember if that is something new.

In Chapter 6, Alex writes that 642,987 American women become dragons on April 25, 1955. The event lasts less than three hours. More than 1,200 dragons snatched up “philandering husbands” and ate them. Some...