Mary Jane

Everyone sings during the long car ride to the cottage. When they arrive, Richard suggests that he conduct his therapy sessions with Jimmy on the beach. The rock star agrees but abruptly announces that he wants to take a walk alone to clear his head. Sheba immediately becomes confrontational, afraid that Jimmy might be sneaking away to find another drug supplier. Richard defuses the tension and frisks Jimmy to make sure he doesn’t have any drugs on him. Then, the musician is allowed to go for a long walk. During the afternoon, Richard takes Izzy and Mary Jane to a local store to gather ingredients for dinner. By the time they return home, Sheba and Jimmy have made up.

The days that follow are idyllic. Jimmy and Richard have therapy sessions while Sheba and Bonnie spend their time sunbathing. Mary Jane and Izzy build sandcastles, beachcomb, and work on their dinner recipes. Five days later, Sheba decides that Mary Jane needs a new bathing suit and takes her shopping at a local boutique. In the store, they bump into nosy neighbor Beanie. Sheba puts on her Rhode Island snob accent, but Beanie seems to know who she really is. The TV star adroitly whisks Mary Jane into a dressing room and cuts the conversation short. Sheba buys Mary Jane several expensive outfits to wear at the beach. The girl loves the clothing but knows her mother would never approve of the style.

Jimmy checks the remaining recipe cards the next day and asks for pot roast for dinner. This is a complicated recipe, but Mary Jane is eager to try making it. By two in the afternoon, the roast is in the oven, and Mary Jane takes Izzy for a walk on the beach. They unexpectedly stumble across Jimmy, hidden behind a dune, having sex with Beanie. Jimmy is startled at the sight of the girls. Mary Jane hustles Izzy away, explaining that Jimmy was wrestling with Beanie. Back at the cottage, Mary Jane tells Richard about Jimmy’s behavior. The doctor says, “Let’s keep this between us for now. After Izzy goes to bed, we’ll deal with it. As a family. Me, you, Bonnie, Jimmy, Sheba” (203).

Later, Jimmy comes into the kitchen and apologizes to the girls. He says that he’s already informed the doctor about his lapse. At dinner that night, everyone seems happy and relaxed. They take a group snapshot to commemorate their time at the beach, but Mary Jane knows an emotional storm is brewing. After she puts Izzy to sleep, the doctor summons her onto the beach for the group therapy session he promised to hold that evening.

Several surprising revelations emerge as each person takes a turn talking about their feelings. Sheba confesses that she misses being in the spotlight while she’s hiding out and helping Jimmy: “Isn’t that weird? I complained about it all the time. But I wonder if I’m sort of addicted to that high of being the person in the room everyone wants to look at or know” (213). Speaking about her Playboy spread, she adds, “Allowing myself to flaunt what my mother wanted me to hide makes me feel like I exist on my own terms” (215). Mary Jane realizes that she can relate to such an attitude.

For his part, Jimmy says that he hates the spotlight and just wants to make music: “I think my emotions have been pent up inside me, and instead of talking it through, I let my urges burst out in inappropriate ways” (212). He admits that the reason he uses drugs is to distance himself from the feeling of being a celebrity.

When it’s Mary Jane’s turn to talk, she confesses that she’s worried about being a sex addict. Now that she’s around people who discuss sex openly, she thinks about sex all the time. The adults are amused by her anxiety because she hasn’t even kissed a boy yet: “Sheba put her arms around me and pulled me against her. She kissed my head like I was Izzy. ‘You’re fine. Those are just normal human girl thoughts’” (220). Mary Jane realizes that her mother would never give her that same reassurance.

Then, the conversation turns to Jimmy’s encounter with Beanie. Initially, Sheba is furious when she hears about it, but she calms down quickly, admitting that the couple has an open marriage. Richard says, “Jimmy, it’s your body. You’re in charge of it. You can choose not to make love to every beautiful woman who offers herself to you” (223).

Bonnie seems oddly upset by the coupling of Jimmy and Beanie. As she talks about her feelings, it becomes apparent that she envies Sheba’s fabulous lifestyle and wishes that she had married a musician in a band: “‘I don’t want to be a doctor’s wife living in Baltimore. I...I just want more than this.’ Mrs. Cone dropped her head and started crying” (226).

Sheba, Jimmy, and Mary Jane return to the cottage to give the Cones the privacy to discuss this issue. To kill time, they binge on snack food, talk about their lives, and sing until four o’clock in the morning. The next day, Izzy wakes up early and makes Mary Jane get up to cook breakfast. Later, Bonnie apologizes to everyone. Mary Jane says, “I felt like an invisible vibrating net had separated us into three alliances. The first was Jimmy, Sheba, Izzy, and me. The next was Dr. Cone [...] And the third was Mrs. Cone. Mrs. Cone seemed slightly adrift” (232).