Margo's Got Money Troubles
by Rufi Thorpe
Contents
Chapter Seventeen
Overview
Margo grapples with language’s hollowness as custody mediation nears. After JB discovers her real identity, a painful call ends their intimacy. Suzie is fired and Margo agrees to pay her, but a planned shoot collapses when KC flakes and Rose critiques the scripts, bruising Margo’s confidence. Margo steadies herself with Bodhi’s Gymboree, resolved yet shaken.
Summary
Margo recalls speaking up in Mark’s narrative class, where a discussion of Gogol’s “The Nose” shows how language can be syntactically correct yet meaningless. The idea echoes her custody fight, where legal labels reduce her to forms that ignore love. Mediation is set for two weeks, turning days into a countdown to loss.
Amid heavy online work and disorientation, Margo watches her mother’s public wedding posts and writes JB a long, comforting email. When JB messages that he discovered her real identity, Margo urges a call. During the late-night conversation, JB says he can’t tell what was real and ends it, devastated by her concealment of Bodhi.
The next day, Margo and Suzie drive to KC and Rose’s to film, but KC is strung out with a new boyfriend, Steve. In the kitchen, Rose suggests skipping the planned scripts, calling them repetitive. Overwhelmed, Margo cries privately, then forces a cheerful exit, promising new ideas.
Driving home, Suzie reassures Margo the scripts were fine and admits she was fired; Margo commits to paying Suzie for filming and childcare despite money stress. They take Bodhi to Gymboree, where his joy offers momentary relief as Margo carries lingering sadness.
Who Appears
- MargoProtagonist; faces looming mediation, loses JB after a revealing call, and struggles with creative confidence.
- SuzieFriend and camerawoman; fired from her job, becomes paid help, offers candid support to Margo.
- JBMajor client and confidant; discovers Margo’s truth, confronts her by phone, and ends their relationship.
- RoseCollaborator; questions Margo’s repetitive scripts, unintentionally wounding her while urging fresh ideas.
- KCCollaborator; too strung out after a night on mushrooms to film, derailing the shoot.
- MarkProfessor and former lover; class discussion on hollow language frames Margo’s feelings about custody.
- JinxHousemate; watches Bodhi and previously helped with account triage during doxxing fallout.
- BodhiMargo’s baby; Gymboree outing briefly lifts Margo’s spirits amid turmoil.
- SteveKC’s new boyfriend; lounging presence contributing to KC’s unavailability to film.
- DerekClassmate; foil in Mark’s discussion, prompting Margo’s rare classroom interjection.