Chapter Twenty

Margo meets Dr. Clare Sharp for the 730 interview, recounting her relationship with Mark while trying to be balanced. She admits naïveté about motherhood and finances, and recognizes cultural pressures around “doing the right thing.” Discussing Jinx, Margo frames their recent cohabitation as healing, but concedes Mark’s early power advantage over her and the mixed feelings about Jinx threatening him.

At night, Margo and JB play Fortnite, flirting through avatars as anticipation builds for his visit. The next morning, Suzie can’t access the bathroom; Margo discovers Jinx unconscious in the tub with a needle. After rousing him, she hides the scene from Suzie, retrieves his stash concealed in the towel bar, flushes the drugs, and stashes the needles.

Ward emails that Mark’s deposition yielded little damaging material; Mark appears to be a strong father, complicating custody strategy. Margo confronts Jinx, learning he found and used the meds she hid and then sourced heroin. Hurt and furious, she weighs eviction against care. Jinx argues for not catastrophizing relapse; he admits calling Mark while high and laments being a bad father.

Seeking a path forward, Margo decides not to abandon Jinx. She buys time, then sets an ultimatum: start methadone or leave. They spend hours at a clinic completing tests and securing his first dose. Driving home, Jinx already feels some relief, especially in his back pain, and they share a tentative optimism.

The chapter ends with domestic lightness—Jinx buoyed, doting on Bodhi—while Margo acknowledges the betrayal and her choice to fight alongside him. A closing metafictional aside questions the scale of invention required to tell this truth.