Memphis

Joan last saw her father six years ago. When she sees him at the door, he smiles at her, but she does not say anything. Bird tells her she looks like Jax. They all go to the kitchen. Miriam refuses to serve coffee to Jax, and Joan notices her “silent rage.” Joan is also angry at him. Jax “[opens] his hands in forgiveness” (198).

Jax relates the story about the attack at the Pentagon, looking at Miriam. He explains his experience of war, saying that he had to come and see her and his daughters because he was “sick of all the death” (201). Joan gradually feels her anger subsiding. August and Miriam say they have their “own battles,” and Jax tells Miriam she has done a great job (202).

Mya wakes up and appears silent in the kitchen. When she realizes her father is there, she falls into his arms.

August wakes up to the sound of the piano. Bird and Jax have been in the house for three days, “the first time in years the house had been full of men” (204).

August struggles after Derek’s trial.