Luster

Chapter 8 begins with Eric’s announcement “that the neighbor’s dog has been shot” (193). Rebecca ignores Edie while Edie desires “to tell her that I have been painting […] something is happening on my canvas, whatever soft, human calculus makes a thing alive, gives a painted eye roots and retina and makes it look like it can see” (194). Edie wavers in her decision over whether to have another abortion as “I feel unlike myself, spry and nocturnal and inclined to believe that this pregnancy is part of the reason my paintings are any good” (194). The family prepares for Comic-Con, and Edie works a hot comb through Akila’s hair. She ponders how Akila’s hair will develop over time.

Since his trip to the hospital, Eric has been hiding his drinking less. The police investigation of the murder of the neighbor’s dog continues outside as they rush to make it to the city. They arrive at Comic-Con, and Eric, Edie, and Akila navigate the crowded convention center as Rebecca tries to find a parking space. Eric takes mushrooms and falls more and more under the influence of the hallucinogen until he falls ill. Rebecca takes off with Akila while Edie attempts to keep eyes on Eric. She follows him into a bathroom. He asks her if she still likes him, to which she admits, “I don’t know if I ever liked you” (207). She asks Eric if he has “ever thought about going to a meeting or something” (208). He asks her to leave him alone.

Edie wanders off by herself and meets a young Black artist whose “graphic novels are loosely based around her quest to find adequate psychotherapy” (209). She waits for Akila, Rebecca, and Eric outside of the convention center until it is time to go home. On the way to the car, Rebecca admits that there has been an accident. The car is badly damaged, but they don’t talk about it. Later that night as she gets some air outside, Edie notices the old woman across the street who has lost her dog is watching her and “standing in her yard with a leash in her hand” (210). Edie returns inside and writes an email to the artist she met earlier. The next morning, Rebecca comes into Edie’s room and tells her to find a way to tell Akila she’s leaving. Edie heads into the city from an interview and wonders how to tell Akila and “who will do Akila’s hair” (211).

Edie takes Akila out of school the next day and takes her to the mall. After resisting Edie’s attempts to help her buy something, Akila declares that she would like to buy a bra. She tries on the bras in front of Edie, “shrugs and slips them in her purse” (212). They go on to the next store and “soon we are moving in tandem, sliding bracelets and sample perfumes into our purses and stowing what we can in our boots” (213). Later that evening, Akila and Edie return home, and “as Akila is looking for her keys, a patrol car pulls up behind us” (213). Edie observes the old woman across the street watching them. She attempts to respond to the officers casually while Akila speaks in a “tenor markedly less reverent than mine” (214). The officers aggressively push Akila onto the ground, and after attempting to get them off, Edie is pinned down as well. Rebecca appears at the scene, and the police release the two of them. They begin to question Rebecca about the shooting of the neighbor’s dog.

Inside the house, Edie tends to a cut on Akila’s lip. Angry, Akila shares that she regrets talking back; Edie reassures her that “there’s nothing we could have done. It was always going to go that way” (216). They play video games to try and distract themselves. The four of them have dinner together for the first time. Akila leaves the table. Edie attempts another self-portrait “and for the first time in my life, there I am” (217). Edie reflects on the truth of what she and Akila encountered earlier that day: “that when the officer had his arm pressed into my neck, there was a part of me that felt like, all right. Like, fine. Because there will always be a part of me that is ready to die” (217).

Rebecca visits Edie in her room and asks if she is okay. She falls asleep on Edie’s floor. The next morning, Edie wakes up “covered in blood” (217). Rebecca drives her to urgent care. The doctors inform Edie “that the baby is dead and the tissue will need to be cleared” (219). As the sedation kicks in, the nurse asks Edie what she does for a living. Edie says that she does nothing, before replying that she is an artist. Over the next week, Edie heals from her miscarriage. Rebecca cares for her silently by leaving her supplies and food on her dresser. Edie receives an offer from a job she interviewed for weeks ago.

Rebecca helps Edie move into a new apartment in Crown Heights. They share a bottle of vodka together and listen to one of Eric’s vinyl records. Edie commands Rebecca to undress while she gathers her oils to paint her. Edie arranges Rebecca “into the position I want, one limb at a time, until she is taut” (226). After she is finished, Edie shows Rebecca the painting. Rebecca dresses and, without saying anything, leaves.