Turtles All the Way Down

Life continues for Aza, and she says that she isn't crazy all the time. On Friday night, she spends two hours getting dressed and trying to do her makeup. When she comes out of her bedroom, Mom fails to disguise her disappointment at Aza's decision to wear makeup. Aza explains she's having dinner with Daisy, Mychal, and Davis, and deflects when Mom asks if she's dating Davis. Mom says that Aza doesn't talk to her, but Aza tells the reader she always feels in tune with her mother. She tells Mom that she doesn't talk to anyone. Mom tells Aza to be careful with Davis, since wealth is careless. Aza insists that Davis is a person, not wealth.

Aza is the last to arrive at Applebee's and takes a seat next to Mychal. Daisy begins a conversation of whether Wookiees are people, and Davis eagerly joins in. Mychal tells Davis that Daisy is a famous fanfiction writer, and Davis looks her up. Holly arrives, Daisy orders waters for the table, and when Davis looks confused as to why Aza isn't having Dr. Pepper, Holly explains they have Pepsi products and the coupon doesn't cover soft drinks. Davis orders everyone Pepsi. Aza realizes she hasn't spoken since she arrived, and she drifts in and out of following the conversation.

Daisy tries to include Aza by asking about her internet usage, but Aza insists she doesn't feel the need to contribute to the internet. Daisy insists the world needs Aza's Wookiee love stories, and the conversation shifts away from Aza again. Aza picks at her food when it comes and picks up the check when Holly drops it. Davis insists on taking it, and Aza lets him.

Daisy announces that they should do something like see a movie. Davis suggests they go to his house, since they "get all the movies." Mychal is confused as Davis tries to explain that they actually get the movies at his house when they come out in theaters. Aza makes herself agree to go.

Aza and Mychal drive their cars behind Davis to the Pickett estate. When they get there, Mychal excitedly tells Aza that he's always wanted to see the Pickett mansion, which was built by a famous architect. When they enter the house, Mychal starts rattling off the names of the artists whose work lines the walls. Davis tells him to check out the Rauschenberg upstairs, and Mychal charges up. Aza studies the painting by Pettibon of a colorful spiral. Davis explains some facts about the artist, and then leads Aza downstairs to see the theater.

Davis leads Aza into a basement room lined with Mr. Pickett's collection of first edition books. He tells her she can't touch any of them but Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When she touches the book, the bookshelf opens to reveal a theater with stadium seating. Davis suggests that it's obvious he's trying to impress her, but Aza insists she always goes to mansions with hidden movie theaters. Davis asks if she'd take a walk outside and uses his phone, connected to the house's sound system, to tell Daisy and Mychal that they're going outside.

Davis leads Aza to a sand bunker on the golf course. They lay down and he points to Jupiter. Davis begins to explain light time to Aza: traveling at the speed of light, it would take 45 minutes to travel to Jupiter, which means the Jupiter Aza sees from earth is actually the Jupiter from 45 minutes ago. Davis points to other stars and says that they're hundreds of light years away, which means that the actual star might have blown up hundreds of years ago. Aza remarks that they're looking at the past.

Aza feels Davis fumbling for her hand and takes his. Davis turns his head towards her. Aza wants to kiss him, but is scared to turn towards him. Davis resumes talking about stars and finally remarks that Aza doesn't talk much. Davis suggests she say what she's thinking. Aza says that she doesn't like living inside of a body. She mentions her sweating hands and wipes her sweating forehead. She thinks that she finds herself disgusting, but she can't really recoil from herself because she's stuck in her body. She tells Davis about a type of bacteria that lives in fish that causes infected fish to try to get eaten by birds. She realizes that she's trying to tell Davis that she feels like the fish in that she's not in control.

Aza tells Davis that she presses her nail into her finger pad to convince herself that she's real. Davis is quiet for a bit and then says that his mom was hospitalized for six months after her aneurysm. She was in a coma, but would squeeze Davis’s hand sometimes. When she did, Davis felt loved. He says that once his dad came and tried to tell him that his mom wasn't actually "there" and squeezing of her own volition. Davis tells Aza that she's real, but he doesn't know why.

Aza asks Davis what he's thinking, and he says that Aza is too good to be true. He says that he knows she saw the picture from the night vision camera, though Aza insists that she won't let Daisy turn in the picture. Davis insists he can't trust her, and says the picture won't make any difference but the police will wonder why he didn't turn it in. Suddenly, Davis gets up and mutters that this problem is solvable.

Aza follows Davis to the cottage. Davis walks to the bar area and pulls out cereal boxes. He shakes bundles of bills out of the boxes and explains that his dad hid money everywhere. He offers Aza a stack of bills and explains that for his dad, $100,000 is a mere rounding error, and Aza should take it as a reward for not saying anything. Davis says that Simon Morris will call Aza. Davis insists that from now on, when Aza calls him, he'll know it's not because she wants the reward. He puts the money in a bag and hands it to Aza.

Aza sprints with the bag back to the house. She runs upstairs, hears Daisy talking behind a closed door, and opens it to find Daisy and Mychal kissing. Daisy asks for privacy, and Aza heads back downstairs. She sits down next to Noah, who is wearing superhero pajamas even though he's thirteen. He asks Aza if she's found anything about his father. Noah asks if he can send Aza the notes from his dad's phone. The last note was "the jogger's mouth." Aza gives Noah her number and says that she'll try to figure out what "the jogger's mouth" means.

In a small voice, Noah says that Davis thinks they're better off without their dad, but that he still wants him to come home. Noah leans into Aza and starts sobbing. She comforts him as he sobs and says he can't think straight. Noah asks Aza to let him know if she finds anything, and Aza suggests that Noah go to bed. He goes upstairs without saying anything. Aza leaves and thinks about how light the bag of money is.