Girl in Pieces

Charlie spends six healing weeks with Tanner, Linus, and Felix. She begins working in a new medium and returns to Tucson to find Blue also on a healthy path.

Felix tells Charlie that sometimes it is important to “just be” (357). Charlie’s body heals. She learns that Linus has children who live with their father. Charlie feels ashamed that she never asked Linus about her life. Linus reads her a positive review of her drawings, though the rest of the exhibit receives a “snarky” write-up (359). Felix tells Charlie that she is skilled but not working in the right medium. He tells her that Devvie will set up a studio room for her to experiment. Linus reveals they will be staying for a while: True Grit has closed. Riley stole “a lot of money” (360).

Charlie contemplates Felix’s words. She remembers Ariel telling her that she had to examine herself and be her own subject. Charlie feels exhausted. She misses Riley, though she knows it is wrong. Longing for the release of cutting, she forces herself to count her scars and account for the damage she has inflicted on her body. She thinks of Louisa and realizes that her journals are the only thing Charlie has left because she had carried them around in her backpack.