Piecing Me Together: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

On the first weekend in December, Maxine drives Jade downtown to go to the art museum. Maxine tells Jade that she can’t touch the art, can’t take photos, and that they’ll have to talk quietly. Jade thinks that Maxine is acting like Jade doesn’t know how to behave in public. A few minutes into their time at the museum, Maxine’s phone rings: it’s Jon. Maxine steps outside to answer. Jade waits for 10 minutes and then Maxine tells Jade to go in alone. Jade wonders what Maxine and Jon have to talk about and why they have to talk whenever Maxine is with her. It makes Jade think that Maxine has nothing to teach her about loving herself and taking care of herself.

Jade sees another mentor-mentee pair taking photographs and she joins them when they invite her. Jade strays to look at the photographs and thinks that Maxine is being really rude. When Sabrina finds Jade and she says they’re going to do a reflection activity, Jade hides in the bathroom. She finds Maxine on a bench when she comes out. Maxine apologizes, says she had to have the conversation, and offers to take Jade to dinner. As they walk, Maxine asks Jade what she thought about the museum. Jade knows that Maxine wants to hear that it was a great time and not that Jade thinks Maxine is rude, so she says it was awesome. Maxine asks if any of Jade’s friends have been to the museum and she says that most people in North Portland stay in a bubble. At the restaurant, Jade wants to avoid a lecture on healthy eating so she orders salmon and arugula like Maxine.

After their food comes, Jade asks what Maxine meant that people in North Portland live in a bubble. Maxine explains that lots of people never leave their neighborhoods, and it upsets Jade that Maxine is talking about her friends like she knows them. Jade points out economic reasons why her friends might not get out much, but Maxine has lots of solutions: admission discounts, free days, and trips to Multnomah Falls. When Jade points out that if Mom had a car they’d have to be careful where they went so they could keep gas in it, Maxine laughs and she calls Jade a pessimist. Jade thinks that she’s poor and a realist. Maxine asks about Mom. Jade shares that Mom is working for Ms. Louise and another woman on the weekends, and Maxine looks at Jade with pity. Maxine suggests that Mom is lucky, but Jade doesn’t think so.

Jade asks what Maxine’s mom does, and Maxine shares that her mom is a surgeon and so she wasn’t home much when Maxine was a kid. Jade then asks for the real reason Maxine wanted to participate in Woman to Woman. Maxine says that she wants to help and that she could’ve used someone to talk to when she was a teen. She asks Jade if she needs someone to talk to, but Jade doesn’t want to answer. She doesn’t want Maxine to think that Mom is a bad mother or that Jade is broken. Maxine chats on and she says that they’re going to grow and learn, but Jade asks how they’ll do that if Maxine keeps flaking out. Maxine apologizes and she asks for another chance.