The Salt Eaters

Mai tries to write about her great-aunt, inspired by something Cecile said. When Iris tells Mai that a Japanese man is looking at her while rearranging flowers, Mai touches a flower on their table. This helps her recall what she was going to write about her great-aunt escaping “burning flower boats” (222). There is a rumbling sound that Cecile guesses is thunder. Czechia grips her Kashisk pendant, takes it off, and gives it to Mai. Mai kisses her forehead. The group considers rain, mudslides, and contaminated soil.

The narrator describes a moment when Velma felt cared for—in bed, surrounded by family members. No one was upset about her running off after her recital. Her legs move under the quilts, and she thinks about ice skating as well as messages from dreams. The messages about the Transchemical office came to her as early as the recital and were repeated in dreams over the years. She recalls M’Dear and Dolphy dragging tubs with oysters and stopping to dance to “Nature Boy.” Velma thinks about how empty oyster shells are given to babies. Then she recalls walking with Obie and their son after church. The couple talks about Velma working too hard and taking out-of-town jobs and Obie cheating. She talks about her lack of trust, and he talks about her latest job. After this, she ends up cheating on him as revenge.

Back at the café, someone suggests the rumbling sound is a train, but Pete, one of the group playing games, says it is thunder. Another man in the group says he’s a liar. Nilda thinks about jackrabbits in contaminated soil. As Iris asks Nilda about a piece they are working on, three students from the academy dance down the street while singing. Ruby wonders if Jan was involved in distributing rifles at the academy, and Jan wonders if Ruby has connections with violent people. The people at the café applaud the academy group of performers heading down the street. Jan and Ruby debate being spiritual and political, then talk about Buster (Ruby’s cousin) writing his paper on the Brotherhood and how he got the teenager, Nadeen, pregnant.

As musicians play in the café, Iris thinks about various homes of hers such as New York and Piedras, and the homes of Inez, Czechia, Nilda, Mai, and Cecile in various locations. Inez thinks about the events she has to attend instead of going back to New York. Mai suggests that Ruby and Jan might be friends of Velma’s, but everyone in their group is too lethargic to figure out if this is true. Cecile returns her drink and tries to flirt with Campbell, who is not interested. She worries that it will rain.

Ruby and Jan discuss Velma putting herself first for a change. Ruby does not want to say that Velma is undergoing a mental health crisis and recalls her hasty diagnosis of Tina Mason and her current projects. Stalling, Ruby talks about Sophie and debates with Jan about ecological and nuclear issues in terms of local and broader organizing. Then they talk about Jan and Campbell flirting. It suddenly starts raining, and people move under awnings. Campbell thinks “Damballah,” the name of one of the most important Ioa, who is the Sky Father and a serpent, as lightning flashes (245). The narrator considers how this moment of thunder and lightning is a beginning for many people, such as Jan, and compares it to historical moments, such as the death of Malcolm X in 1963. Then the narrator considers the café’s role in the lives of the people and borders.

Ruby complains about the storm’s noise. The narrator explores trading stories in the café or other places. This is compared and contrasted with being in the woods and connecting to nature. Ruby loses her hat and hugs Jan. Waiters pass out napkins. Nilda sits in the rain as Campbell writes down his thoughts about Damballah.

Drums from the park can be heard by Velma, who believes they signal a barrier dropping. Velma journeys outside herself and enters the world as her consciousness. She walks along a trail marked by cornmeal and talks about room in the heart with M’Dear. Minnie talks to Old Wife as a brass band parades down the street. Velma encounters the “Hoo Doo Man” and runs against the flow of the parade (252). A musician gives her a red scarf, which she ties on herself. As she is shoved between people in a truck, she sees Obie with weapons. She wonders who convinced him to collect them.

The scene changes to the Regal Theatre, where people try to get inside but the guards do not let them. Velma, inside, watches “Blackamoors” and tries to not see the cave in the wall with the mud-mothers paintings (254). These mud mothers also appear in an attic mirror, which Velma covered. People march beside the truck that holds the guns. There are cardboard chains on some actors in the festival. She recalls a concert in the park where she, Obie, Palma, and Marcus watched the police’s response to a riot. Other people are in the park, including Minnie, M’Dear, Doc Serge, and a woman at whom Velma refuses to look. She thinks about Medusa and M’Dear curing Dolphy’s snakebite with salt. She notes, however, that the remedy for a snakebite and a serpent bite are not the same.

Velma thinks about teachers, including authors and musicians, and resistance. She considers how she could recover but feels like something is missing. Then the mud mothers appear to her. Velma still refuses to look directly at the woman near her but glances at her outfit and three wedding bands out of the corner of her eye. The woman smells familiar, and Velma thinks about names. She considers inviting herself in for a talk and has negative feelings about her mothering. There is a conversation between her and Barbara Watson (aka Sweetpea) about activism and organizing.

Minnie and Old Wife talk about what music she should play and the haints. Velma compares the blues singer to stove sounds and other sounds. She considers how the woman in the park is herself. A Charlie Parker song causes her to recall moments with Palma from childhood. She looks out of a window at a tree, thinking about a baby bird from it around Minnie’s jugs and bowls. Then she thinks about the infirmary’s pillars, feels Minnie nearby, and dances while naming spirits like in grimoires (books of magic). Old Wife advises Minnie to let Velma dance. Velma thinks about her teachers and their teachings, about the design and boldness of Blackness. She realizes she has power.

Velma does not care how she appears on her stool in the infirmary. She recalls being in bed and cared for by M’Dear, who told her stories about power. Velma wants to go on the hunt for herself and thinks about different kinds of hunting, such as hunting with bows and hunting for sex. She hears Minnie’s record of “Wild Women Don't Have the Blues” and thinks about her wildness. Thinking about the possibility of death, she feels connected to the people in the room.

Doc Serge looks at the half-conscious Velma and is sexually attracted to her. He mentally compares her to the sex workers he used to employ. Then he considers how he will help her, which will be tricky, and that someone also needs to help Obie. Doc Serge used to be known for his hat, which he got rid of when he changed his career. Fred opens the door, planning to ask for directions. He sees the healing, changes his mind, and bumps the light switch. Then he watches Velma, Minnie, and Doc Serge, and he considers how he disagrees with Porter about the infirmary having violent agitators in it. A member of the prayer circle politely points out the door to Fred.

Different ways Velma might have died are listed, including during infancy and a dangerous sexual encounter. Another example is when a hotel room she stayed at during a march was set on fire. However, she has always felt a pull to live, even in her recent attempt to die by suicide. She thinks about reading signs and nature. After Minnie tells her to be calm, Velma feels like she dies again. More potential deaths are described, such as during a bombing and a raid. In the last scenario, she looks at a slingshot in the pocket of her attacker as she dies and recalls M’Dear teaching her the letter “Y.” Then Velma regrets not getting to learn more.

Minnie gets a message and tells Old Wife that she sees a pentagon in the left bicuspid. She wonders if she should have done more for the loa. Cora and Anna hug one another, scared by the singing in the healing. The room shakes, and Nadeen’s baby moves inside her, but Cora calms them. Velma feels Minnie’s touch and starts back toward life. The narrator says Velma doesn’t know what’s coming later.

Meanwhile, Fred is being examined. He and the nurse end up reaching for their feet when the lightning flashes. Fred thinks he sees Porter out of the window in the rain, runs outside, and falls in some leaves. The image of Porter is gone, and Fred runs to the bus kiosk. After he whispers Porter’s name, a couple joins him in the kiosk, also seeking shelter from the rain. At the café, Campbell is stuck by the service counter, looks at the group of women, and thinks that it is more than a storm.

During the storm, Dr. Meadows drinks with the men he met while walking and passes out flyers about the plant with them. The narrator looks at different points in Dr. Meadows’s life, such as him having lunch with Doc Serge, Sophie, and Janice Campbell. Meanwhile, Palma is held by Marcus in the park. The narrator describes the scene at the park in preparation for the festival. They talk about finding seats near the drummers when the thunder claps.

At the same time, in a daze, Obie is in the whirlpool. Others around him move when the thunder claps, but he remains still. Someone tells him he is wanted, and he thinks about all the people who want him, like Velma and the cops. The person explains that there is a phone call asking him to come to the infirmary. Obie is disoriented. Eventually, he realizes it is Velma at the infirmary and heads out through the locker room while Ahiro asks if he is okay.

He walks through the rain and looks around at people in the academy, such as students starting the parade. Pausing on his way to the infirmary, he tells an old man he can find food and shelter in the academy. He passes by the Regal, thinking about childhood memories there. Some nearby young people talk about the storm as Obie is drawn to the Regal’s back door. He falls as lightning strikes, and one of the young men tells him to get up. He is unable to at first but then gets up and salutes them.

Sophie, sitting in Serge’s chair, looks out the window at the rain, wondering if Velma found herself or found a snakeskin. Sophie thinks about delays and bringing together factions. She sees kids running around for the festival outside and thinks about training Velma to use her psychic gift after Minnie heals her. The future, Sophie thinks, will be hard for Velma, but she is a fighter. Sophie vows to pay closer attention to Velma’s mental health.

Minnie and Old Wife argue about the pentagon message and time. Minnie thinks it will be a long day and night. As Minnie and Old Wife argue about their division of labor, Minnie takes her hands off Velma, who is glowing. Velma stands and drops the shawl like a cocoon.