The Weight of Blood

The podcast hosts interview Dr. Paul Foreman, who was Maddy’s doctor. The first time he treated her, it was mandated by the state; she’d been to the emergency room after a “fit of hysteria” after getting her first menstrual cycle and not knowing what it was (112), therefore assuming she was going to die. The ER nurse explained menstruation to Maddy, and Child Protective Services got involved, mandating that Maddy see Dr. Foreman to receive the required immunizations and start attending middle school. Foreman claims that Maddy seemed to fear speaking without first obtaining permission from her father. However, he did not find any “signs of abuse” (113).

In 2014, photos of Jules’s blackface costume also get posted online and picked up by national news outlets such as CNN. The Black Student Union protests outside the cafeteria because Jules didn’t get in trouble at all for the blackface or other bullying incidents, so students conclude the administration doesn’t care and is happy to let racism continue thriving. Kali announces they’ll also have protests outside the country club every week until they start letting Black people attend events. Wendy approaches Kali and criticizes her for involving prom in the debate. Kali says Wendy is just trying to integrate prom so she can go with Kenny and repair her own reputation.

Jules and her father, Keith Marshall, who is wealthy and runs a chain of hardware stores, speak with Mr. O’Donnell in his office. Mr. O’Donnell is typically afraid of Mr. Marshall, so Jules is excited to watch her dad get her out of trouble by bullying the principal. Because Jules has caused a tremendous number of problems and offended people both locally and nationally, he can’t get Jules off the hook. Mr. O’Donnell and the district administration have agreed to suspend Jules for the remainder of the year. She can graduate after taking final exams at home. Still in the office, Jules gets an email that her acceptance to Texas A&M has been rescinded. Her dad reassures her that they’ll straighten things out because she has worked hard.

Maddy reads the journal her mom left, which warns that she must figure out how to control her powers or disaster will strike. She should embrace joy instead of anger and also not live a lie like her dad wants her to. Maddy wonders if her mother was a witch. She conducts research online and discovers that the word “telekinesis” resembles her own power to move objects using her mind rather than her body.

The podcast hosts interview a telekinesis expert named Kurt Von Keating. School library records reveal that Maddy checked out some books on telekinesis. The expert implies that belief in telekinesis is necessary in order to perform it but that pyrokinesis is different.

Back in 2014, Jules’s friends attempt to comfort her after she finds out she’s gotten kicked out of college. She blames Maddy for ruining her life. Jules maintains that her racist acts were all “jokes” and that she has nothing to apologize for. Wendy wants to convince everyone, including Kali, that she’s authentically good and not just concerned about her reputation.

David Portman’s book says Maddy attended prom with the school’s most popular boy. Tragedy ensued, and now people try to pinpoint the moment of no return, when the tragedy could have been prevented—for example, if Jules had never thrown the pencil or if prom had not been integrated.

In 2014, Wendy and Kenny are about to have sex, but she wants to talk instead. She asks Kenny to take Maddy to prom as a public statement of unity and peace. She thinks that if Kenny, who is popular and also friends with bullies, attends the integrated prom with Maddy, everyone will think the community’s race relations have been healed. Kenny doesn’t appreciate being used this way, but Wendy feels like they owe it to Maddy. Kenny says he’ll consider it but isn’t sure if Maddy would even want to attend prom.

In English class, Kenny gets an A- on his essay, but the teacher, Mr. Bernstein, asks to speak to him after class. Doubtful the essay is Kenny’s own work, he asks if Wendy has been helping him write essays. She hasn’t; Kenny loves reading and writing. The teacher won’t believe him but also has no intentions of reporting him for plagiarism, so Kenny lets the teacher think Wendy does his homework for him. In the library, he hears some younger students making fun of Maddy’s hair and saying that she’s more Black than white. Kenny tells the kids she is equally both and that they should leave, which they do. Maddy is nearby looking at books; Kenny approaches her and some books fall, which he helps her pick up. He asks her to prom, but she looks around frantically as if expecting a joke and then asks him to leave her alone. Eventually, he steps aside, and she runs away.

In 2014, after running away from Kenny, Maddy hides in Mrs. Morgan’s old classroom, which is empty due to damage done by the “earthquake.” Mrs. Morgan finds Maddy, and Maddy tells her about the prom invitation. Mrs. Morgan encourages her to go because she thinks this could send a statement against segregation. She discovers that someone has been teaching Maddy fake history and shows Maddy some videos of Civil Rights Movement-era protests that turned violent. She also shows her local lynching photos and explains that the perpetrators didn’t face justice. This content had been removed from the curriculum by the school board. Mrs. Morgan says Maddy is powerful and that going to prom will be like a protest. Mrs. Morgan then confronts Kenny and Wendy, warning them to be careful with Maddy at prom.

In her bedroom, Maddy practices moving small objects. She’s worn glasses for years but suddenly sees better without them. She unintentionally lights a candle. Papa does Maddy’s hair while quizzing her about fake history. He burns her, so she burns him back using her ability to control fire with her mind.

The podcast hosts interview Nina Floros, who lived with her family next door to Maddy and her dad. She was older, and her family moved away before the tragic prom night. Nina never knew Maddy existed until she was around five. Maddy’s dad wouldn’t let her outside, but sometimes she’d sneak into the backyard. When Maddy was around 12, she ran outside because a bunch of birds were attacking her house, and she was screaming about the end of the world. This is when she was sent to the ER and then to middle school. After the incident with the birds, Nina got a bad headache. A newspaper article narrates the same incident: More than 1,000 crows inexplicably crashed into Maddy’s house at once, breaking a lot of windows.

Kenny goes to the antique store to ask Maddy again to prom, trying to reassure her that it will be okay. She accepts this time.

Jason’s parents leave town, and he hosts a big party. Jules arrives, furious that Kenny is taking Maddy, who “ruined” Jules’s life, to prom. She accuses Kenny of only caring about Maddy because she is “now” Black and suddenly prioritizing her over his real friends like Jules. Jules says he probably only got onto Alabama’s football team because of “affirmative action recruitment bullshit” and that Wendy only wants to be with Kenny because she’s from a working-class family (178). Wendy and Jules argue; Jules says she is no longer Wendy’s best friend and that Wendy can forget about rides, clothes, and slumber parties.

A news article from 2014 explains the town’s old power plant sirens. Each day at 4:00 p.m., the siren would ring as a test, and then at 6:45 p.m., it would ring to announce the curfew for non-white townspeople; otherwise, they could face violence or murder. This curfew prevented Black people from some after-school sports and other activities. The mayor claims the curfew is a rumor, but townspeople claim it wasn’t. The alarm still rings ominously.