We Deserve Monuments

After Letty receives a poor report from her doctor, Avery overhears Letty and Zora arguing about Letty’s health and their relationship, though Zora quickly quiets when she sees Avery entering. When Avery sees a pamphlet about end-of-life care, she asks to spend time with Letty, but Letty rebuffs her.

That evening, Simone climbs through Avery’s window to have a picnic of cheesy bread that Simone gets free from her pizza parlor job. They discuss Jade’s family, particularly Lucas’s temper, which Simone reports Jade did not inherit. Simone credits Amelia for her friendship with Jade: When a young Simone accompanied Carole to work, Amelia brought Jade as a playmate, starting their friendship.

Simone reports her history with Letty, who brought her food after her brother Shawn died, which made her a “superhero” to Simone. Simone urges Avery to promise she won’t stop trying to connect with Letty. She asks about Avery’s coming out, claiming she has “no reason” for her curiosity. Avery is unconvinced but doesn’t pry. Avery vows to prioritize her new friendship over her crush. Later, after Simone leaves, Avery finds a letter from Jade and Simone inviting her to a “secret location” at midnight the following week.

Avery overhears Letty and Zora arguing about Letty staying in a healthcare facility for her end-of-life care. Their argument vaguely alludes to a longstanding quarrel about Carole (later revealed to be about Letty objecting to Carole and Zora being in love as teenagers). Avery convinces Letty to join her for a drive, during which Avery playfully responds to Letty’s incessant criticisms of her driving.

When they pass the Bardell train station, Letty confides that was where she met Avery’s grandfather, who was an Amtrak porter. She tells the story of her two-year letter by courtship with Ray, after which he returned to Bardell to marry Letty. Ray’s parents disapproved of the match, which Letty attributes to colorism. Ray died less than a year after their marriage; Avery’s ignorance of this story leads Letty to criticize Zora for traveling and visiting Sam’s family while returning to Bardell only once in a decade. She criticizes Avery for not knowing about her maternal family, though after Avery insists that she wants to know more, she allows that she will tell her “some things” when she is “ready” (122).

Raymond Harding was not a natural train porter, struggling with “the ability to appear simultaneously present and invisible to white passengers” (123). Raymond disagreed with his father’s statement that a railroad job is “a Good Black Job” until he met Letty June Prince (124). He fell instantly for Letty, which baffled his parents, who refused to meet her.

Jade and Simone take Avery to a hotel room, the “secret location” from their note. Jade has bartered a favor from a desk clerk to get them the room, unbeknownst to her parents. They have a party to celebrate their friendship; Avery is touched when Jade and Simone give her a matching friendship ring. They have brought materials to give Avery her long-desired cropped haircut, which Avery feels makes her look like herself for the first time. They drink whiskey and sing along to music, which Avery considers a “perfect night.”

After Jade falls asleep, Simone admits to Avery that she is a lesbian, but that she doesn’t think she has a future where she can be openly gay. She feels that her plan to go to Spelman is “a fantasy” because she can’t leave her mom behind. She confesses to feeling “so fucking lonely” because white, straight Jade and Avery, whose parents support her sexuality, don’t understand her struggles (136). She cries over how, though she knows her own worth, she fears adding anti-gay slurs to the anti-fat rhetoric and racism she faces in school.

When Simone asks for a moment alone, Avery goes to retrieve their pizza. She finds her mom and Carole laughing together. She is shocked to see Zora look at Carole with a kind of “tenderness” Avery has never seen on her mother’s face.

The next morning, the three girls hurry from the hotel room as Avery muses on Simone’s confession and the scene with Zora and Carole. Simone avoids Avery. Avery cajoles Letty into taking another trip to the train station. Letty compliments Avery’s hair, the two settling into a playfully combative rapport.

Letty reports that Ray was murdered by three white police officers while Letty was pregnant with Zora. Letty blames herself for his death as, when the officers wanted to shop at the general store where Ray worked after closing time, Letty refused, claiming they had plans. The officers taunted Letty and attempted to sexually assault her. She slapped one of them, leading them to arrest Ray, even as he apologized profusely. Letty never saw him again; she is certain they killed him.

A train employee asks them to leave the station, as they aren’t ticketed passengers. Avery, horrified by Letty’s story, vomits. When they arrive home, Zora reprimands Avery for taking Letty out in the heat, leading mother and daughter to argue about their different opinions about spending time with Letty. When Avery confronts Zora about Ray’s murder, Zora admits to hiding the truth to avoid the pain of that history.

Jade drives Simone and Avery to school, surprising Avery when she remembers her coffee preferences, which Avery mentioned offhandedly. She worries, however, about Simone’s quiet detachment. Jade complains about Tallulah’s excitement over the upcoming winter formal, which Avery thinks could be a nice event, could she attend with Simone. When Avery tries to discuss Simone’s confession about her sexuality, Simone brushes her off, insisting nothing is wrong, which makes Avery anxious about her nascent friendships.

Avery finds her home life falling into a routine, albeit one where she lies to her “high-achieving mother” about her diminished interest in astrophysics and her incomplete Georgetown application. She also hides how she likes Bardell as Zora incessantly complains about it. Zora hires a nurse, Isaac, who bonds with Letty over horror movies.

Zora asks Avery’s advice in planning a fun day for Letty; though she likes Avery’s recommendation of a spa day, she rejects going to the Draper. Mama Letty and Avery both understand this is about Carole, though Avery doesn’t understand why. Avery comments on the ugliness of Letty’s clock, which Letty confides she has kept because Avery, as a child, gave it as a Christmas present.

Lucas Oliver is accustomed to getting what he wants in life, from marrying Amelia to having an affair with Tallulah. He doesn’t fear retribution, knowing “from history that when Oliver men screwed up, they never stayed in trouble for long” (163). Lucas’s grandfather, Carl, considered himself “a genius” for building the Draper into an “idyllic Southern fantasy straight from Gone with the Wind” (164). Decades later, young Avery visited Bardell for Christmas, though she does not remember seeing police tape in front of the Draper from a recently discovered body.