Olive's Ocean

Feeling like she can’t cry anymore, Martha considers how to proceed. She thinks about never telling anyone about the video and the kiss, but the idea makes her feel like she can’t breathe. She feels like there are numerous puzzle pieces floating inside of her, and she wonders what Olive Barstow would do. Olive would probably ignore the “incident” and carry on with her life. Martha decides to act as if the taped kiss doesn’t mean anything to her. She might also have to block out the incident entirely.

Around her family, Martha pretends to be happy. She tells her mother Jimmy is great, but she thinks her excessive enthusiasm is suspicious. With tiny “explosions” inside of her, she leaves her family and sits on the seawall by herself.

Vince returns from the sailing trip, and Martha and her brother have a contentious exchange. Martha claims Vince knows about the kiss and video. Vince calls Martha a bad mind reader but then admits awareness of the incident. Vince was trying to be the “nice brother,” but now he makes loud kissing noises. Martha declares her hatred for Vince, but Vince acts innocent—the kiss and tape weren’t his idea.