Kiss of the Fur Queen

With Jeremiah busy at the piano, a restless Gabriel recalls how Father Bouchard forbade their family from meeting Abraham’s sister, Black-eyed Susan Magipom, because she had left her abusive husband for another man. Bored, Gabriel heads to a bar called “The Hell Hotel,” planning to sneak in unnoticed with a group of white boys. However, he soon begins chatting with a group of Indigenous people outside the bar, feeling more at home with them. One of the men draws Gabriel into a dark alley for a romantic encounter. At the far end of the alley Gabriel spots something he can’t understand—a group of white men assaulting a scared woman whimpering in “northern Manitoba Cree” (131). Gabriel passes the huddle and heads to another alley with his new friend, where they kiss.

Two days later, the Okimasis brothers read about the horrific rape and murder of Madeline Jeanette Lavoix, a Cree woman from Mistik Lake. Her body was found behind a shady hotel on North Main. Later, Jeremiah decides to give his parents—with whom he has not spent a single Christmas in the last 12 years—a terrific holiday surprise.