Everything I Never Told You: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

After Lydia’s death, James starts going on long drives. He buys sleeping pills, but the only place he can sleep properly is in Louisa’s bed. The dean cancels James’ summer school class to give him time to grieve, but this only makes things worse, as James finds being at home “unbearable.” He goes to his office in the morning and spends the afternoons at Louisa’s apartment. He and Marilyn are barely speaking. One evening, he gets home to see Nath holding the refrigerator door open, deciding on what to eat. James barks at his son for wasting power; Nath, who is holding a hard-boiled egg in his hand, apologizes. James is suddenly aware that he smells of Louisa’s perfume, and tells Nath that his summer course is a “great responsibility” and that he has spent the day at conferences and meetings. He grows angrier and angrier, asking Nath if he has “any friends at all.” Nath replies that he doesn’t, and adds that James smells like perfume. James grabs his son and says Nath doesn’t know anything about his life, just like he didn’t know anything about Lydia’s.

James instantly wants to retract his words, but it is too late. Nath punches the countertop and runs out of the kitchen. James notices a smashed egg lying on the counter. In the morning, James sees it is July 3rd; this used to be a happy date, the day Marilyn returned home. Now it signifies that it has been two months since Lydia disappeared. James reads the newspaper, which contains an article on Lydia’s death. Karen Adler is quoted saying that Lydia “seemed lonely,” and there is a sidebar noting that, “Children of mixed backgrounds often struggle to find their place.” The phone rings; it is Officer Fiske, who tells James that they have concluded that Lydia’s death was a suicide and are closing the investigation. Fiske explains that it is impossible to know for sure, but that the evidence indicates that suicide is by far the most likely explanation. James thanks Fiske and hangs up.

When James tells Marilyn about Fiske’s call, she replies that the police can’t close the case when “whoever did this is still out there.” She insists that the police don’t know Lydia, and that she, Marilyn, knows that Lydia would not have gone out on the lake alone. She accuses James of agreeing with the police and adds that if Lydia had been white, the investigation would not have closed. James is stunned; he’d always hoped that Marilyn had not thought this way. He replies that if Lydia had been white, “none of this would have happened,” because Lydia would have “fit in.” He tells Marilyn that Doris was right, that they should never have married.

James leaves and goes straight to Louisa’s apartment. She can tell something is wrong, and offers him some steamed buns. Although James has not spoken Chinese in forty years, he remembers their name: Char siu bau. The bun tastes “like a kiss.” James and Louisa have sex on the kitchen floor, and James tells her she is “the kind of girl I should have married.” Silently, Louisa convinces herself that James will leave Marilyn for her.

Back home, Marilyn tells Nath and Hannah that the police have ruled Lydia’s death a suicide. Nath calls Officer Fiske and urges him to keep investigating Jack, but Nath gets the impression that Fiske thinks he is “being hysterical.” That night, Hannah wants to fall asleep in Lydia’s bed, but knows that Marilyn is in Lydia’s room. Hannah has stolen small items from each member of her family and hidden them around the house. She knows that Nath is convinced that Jack is responsible for Lydia’s death, but she also knows that this is mistaken. The previous summer, the three Lee children were all at the lake, and while Nath was swimming Jack appeared and sat next to Lydia. Walking toward them, Nath asked Jack what he was doing there. Jack told Lydia that she should cover up because she was burning. As Nath came closer, a drop of water fell from his hair into Jack’s hand. Jack licked it “as if it were honey,” although the only person who noticed this was Hannah.

Hannah is so familiar with unrequited love that she immediately recognized Jack’s desire for Nath. Unsure of how else to acknowledge this, she touched Jack’s toe with her own, and he ruffled her hair. At this moment, however, Nath said, “Let’s go,” and told Jack to stay away from his sister. As they walked away, Hannah smiled at Jack, trying to let him know that she understood. She knows that Jack did not hurt Lydia—that he has never hurt anyone.

Back in the present, Marilyn frets over James’ angry words. When she told James about Doris’ disapproval on their wedding day, she never imagined it would affect him like this. She plans to tell him that she would have married him “a hundred times if it gave us Lydia,” and that he is not to blame for Lydia’s death. However, James doesn’t come home that night. Marilyn drives to his office, but he is not there either. In the morning, as Marilyn wonders what to do, Nath announces that he thinks James is with Louisa. Marilyn finds Louisa’s address in the phone book and drives straight to her apartment, leaving the children at home. Louisa answers the door half-dressed, and Marilyn tells her that she is looking for James, who didn’t come home the night before. As they speak, Marilyn observes that Louisa looks like an innocent doll—the opposite of Marilyn. Marilyn tells Louisa that James talks about her often, a fact that clearly pleases her. Marilyn asks to use Louisa’s phone, but Louisa claims it’s not working. Finally, Marilyn thanks Louisa for her help and tells her to tell James she’ll see him at home.