This Tender Land

Two days later, Odie arrives in St. Louis. He passes through a Hooverville far larger than Hopersville. Unsure of his next move, he visits a post office, hoping to receive a letter from Maybeth. While there, he tells what he remembers about the street where his aunt lives. They direct him to the intersection of Ithaca and Broadway.

Odie arrives at Aunt Julia’s home and knocks. A woman comes to the door. He asks for Julia. A moment later, another woman appears. She touches his cheek and calls him by name.

Julia invites him inside, and they talk while Odie eats. She asks him about school; he admits that he ran away. Julia agrees to let Odie stay in the attic for the time being. Odie falls asleep. When he wakes up, he sees a man and a young woman speaking flirtatiously on the landing below. After the man leaves, Odie asks the woman, who introduces herself as Dolores, for a towel to dry the floor where rain came through the window. Julia is displeased to see Odie talking to Dolores. She helps him dry the floor, then asks him to stay in the attic.

The next morning, Odie goes down the back stairs into the basement, as Julia instructed, to use the bathroom. He emerges to find Dolores doing laundry in the well-furnished basement. She offers to wash his clothes, gives him a robe to wear, and invites him to the kitchen for breakfast. There, Odie meets several more young women. Julia, who is in charge, gives instructions to the women; Odie helps Dolores with the laundry.

That afternoon, Julia visits Odie in the attic. She tells Odie about her sister Rosalee and Rosalee’s husband, Ezekiel O’Banion, whom Odie knew as his parents. Odie asks Julia why she didn’t take care of him and Albert after Ezekiel’s death. She explains that she thought it best for them to stay in school.

That night, after Odie plays tunes for the women who live in the house, Julia sends the others away and asks Odie to tell her how he ended up in St. Louis. He tells her the whole story, omitting nothing. She kneels and says, “Forgive me.”

The next day, at Julia’s request, Dolores takes Odie downtown to shop. After trying on a few items of clothing, Odie decides not to buy anything. He takes Dolores to see the Hooverville and explains that he would feel guilty buying clothes he doesn’t need. Dolores, who is well-dressed, takes offense and explains to Odie that she is a sex worker in Julia’s brothel. She leaves, and Odie wanders into the Hooverville, where he spots a flyer for the Sword of Gideon Healing Crusade.

Odie walks to the park where the crusade is set up. He finds Sister Eve meditating. He explains his disappointment at meeting Julia. Sister Eve encourages him to try to forgive Julia. She also asks about Emmy and conjectures that Emmy not only has a gift for seeing the future but also may be able to change it slightly during her fits. Sister Eve invites Odie to rejoin the crusade before dropping him off at Julia’s house.

In the attic, Julia shows Odie pictures of him as a child before revealing that she, not Rosalee, gave birth to him in that very room. She named him Odysseus after the hero of Homer’s epic poem, believing that he would one day be a leader.

Julia explains that she asked Rosalee to raise Odie, knowing that Rosalee would provide a better upbringing than she could. Julia adds that she doesn’t know who Odie’s father is. She asks for forgiveness, but Odie hesitates.

Dolores appears and shows Mr. and Mrs. Brickman, who hired someone to watch Julia’s house in case Odie appeared, into the room. Odie is surprised to learn that Mrs. Brickman and Julia know each other. Mrs. Brickman recounts her history: When she was a girl, she was sold by her father, then bought by Julia to work in the brothel. Mrs. Brickman and Julia had a falling out when Mrs. Brickman tried to take the house from Julia. Julia had Ezekiel send Mrs. Brickman away.

Mrs. Brickman ended up working at a brothel in Sioux Falls, where she met a man named Sparks, then superintendent of the Lincoln School. Mrs. Brickman married Sparks, who died a year later, then married Clyde Brickman, another one of her clients from the brothel. Years later, Mrs. Brickman recognized Ezekiel when he delivered liquor. Fearing that he would reveal her past, she killed him, then took Odie and Albert into the school and treated Odie poorly because of his resemblance to Julia.

Determined to find Emmy, whose gift she wants to use to her advantage, Mrs. Brickman threatens to shoot Julia unless Odie leaves with her. Odie moves to attack Mrs. Brickman, and she fires a bullet, which grazes Odie’s leg. Julia attacks Mrs. Brickman, and the two fall out the window.

Odie sits beside his mother, who fell into a coma after landing on top of Mrs. Brickman, who died. After several hours, Albert, Mose, and Emmy, who learned Odie’s destination from Shlomo, arrive with Sister Eve, whom they contacted after seeing a poster for the crusade. She took them to Julia’s house, where they learned what happened.

Odie tells the others everything he learned about Julia and the Brickmans. Albert reaffirms that he considers Odie to be his brother, as do Mose and Emmy. Odie shares his theory that Emmy can change the future, suggesting that she helped Odie survive in the quarry, Albert survive the snakebite, and Jack survive the gunshot. Albert tells him that Emmy had a recent fit, and Odie theorizes that she saved Julia’s life as well, though Albert is not convinced.

Two days later, Sister Eve sits with Odie in the hospital. He wishes that he had a gift to help Julia. Sister Eve tells him that he has the gift of storytelling, so he can “create the world in any way [his] heart imagines” (438). He imagines his mother waking up and addressing him by name.

The narrator shares his holistic view of God as the sum of all existence and suggests that it is best to accept the good and bad as part of life’s journey. He explains what happened to the characters in his tale.

Mr. Brickman confessed to his crimes and went to jail, where he died. Julia emerged from her coma partially paralyzed, then started a dress shop. Odie stayed with his mother for a time, fought in World War II, and married Maybeth Schofield, who died peacefully at some point. Emmy stayed with Sister Eve, who helped her use her gift for good. Albert studied engineering, then died a selfless death during the war. Mose played and coached baseball, then turned to political advocacy before dying in 1986.

An aging Odie and Emmy sit together beside the river where they watched fireflies decades earlier. The narrator admits to embellishing his tale, “for there is nothing our hearts can imagine that is not so” (444).