Allegedly

Mary and New Girl go to Manhattan to meet with Ms. Cora at the Absolution Project. Mary is nervous about going and more so when she meets Ms. Cora in person. Ms. Cora is Indian and, because it is Saturday, she is wearing casual clothes, making her look too young to be a competent lawyer. Ms. Cora introduces her assistant Terry. He offers his hand but Mary declines to take it. Ms. Cora tells Mary she’d been fascinated by her case since her first day of law school and had followed it closely. She also acknowledges that Mary has just had a birthday. Ms. Cora tells Mary that they can reopen her case but it will be difficult. Ms. Cora is not concerned that Mary has no money, leading Mary to feel mistrust. However, Mary is desperate and decides this is her only option. Ms. Cora tells Mary to trust her and to tell her the whole truth. Mary reflects on Ms. Claire’s words about change being scary, but that “nothing comes from nothing” and shares “her story” with Ms. Cora and Terry. Ms. Cora and Terry are shocked; they send Mary home so they can get to work. On her way out, Mary sees a pile of books on Ms. Cora’s desk that are all about Alyssa’s murder. Mary is in disbelief, not only at the subject of the books, but at the sight of Alyssa’s face. She recalls the day the picture was taken: 

Alyssa […] is exactly how [Mary] remember[s] her; soft curly brown hair, tiny nose, the littlest fingers and the biggest blue eyes. She is wearing her red jumper with the white bib that says, I Love My Mommy. [Mary] remember[s] when she took the picture. [She]was standing nearby, being a good helper, holding her bottle like her mommy asked […] Tears prick at [Mary’s] eyes, a sob building. [Mary] clutch[es] the book to [her] chest and close[s] [her] eyes, trying to feel her warmth again. Alyssa (192). 

Mary is emotional and doesn’t understand how the books could’ve been written without her permission. Ms. Cora tells Mary once the case is overturned, they’ll sue for defamation and slander. New Girl says that Mary will get money and won’t have to work a day in her life, which Ms. Cora does not appreciate but does not contradict. Mary asks to borrow one of the books. After the meeting, New Girl heads home and Mary goes to find Ted. 

Once at Ted’s group home, Mary asks for Ted but is met with, “Not again […] you one of his girls?” (196). Mary learns Ted is “with some chick named Leticia” (196). The thought of Ted—the only person with whom she’s ever shared love and intimacy—with another woman devastates Mary. She goes to the Tilden Houses, one of the worst projects in Brooklyn, to confront Ted. She encounters a young woman who inadvertently leads her to Leticia’s apartment. Mary witnesses Ted “slapping Leticia’s ass” (200). She flees and Ted runs after her trying to explain. Leticia follows, asking, “Who is this bitch?” (201). Mary frees herself from Ted’s forced embrace and returns home just in time for kitchen duty. Ms. Reba tells Mary she’ll get no dinner but hands her a folded piece of paper. It is Mary’s birth certificate, but to Mary’s disappointment, her father’s name is marked “N/A.”

After witnessing Ted’s betrayal, Mary stays in bed for six days. Fed up, Ms. Stein bursts into Mary’s room with news that her lawyer is on the phone. Ms. Stein is furious and says, “I’m tired of this shit! You better tell me what’s going on. What you got a lawyer for?” (208). Ms. Cora has been calling for days to tell Mary they’re filing a motion and offers to get Mary out of the home. Mary declines, figuring she has nowhere to go. Mary finally returns to work. Ted is there wanting to talk things through, but Mary will have nothing to do with him. When he reaches out to touch her stomach, Mary holds a “knife at his neck […] he backs up” (211). 

Later, Mary is in the shower and feels a breeze. She’d locked the bathroom door, but someone has a key. Mary suspects someone has been watching her in the shower, and when she exits, China stares at Mary’s naked body from her bunk. When Mary returns to her room, she finds New Girl’s side perfect and hers destroyed, “covered in a blanket of snow-white feathers and cotton […] [her] pillow […] it’s been ripped to confetti” (212). The home continues to be unlivable. New Girl describes her difficult relationship with her overbearing parents, justifying her attempts at murdering them. 

Momma comes to visit Mary one week early, angry because she’s learned Mary has a lawyer. Momma had told Mary not to “be bringing up no old mess!” (215). She is dressed in dark, conservative clothing, a contrast to her typically colorful church attire and tells Mary, “You can’t just go making your own decisions! You just a child!” (216). In the moment, Mary yells, “I’m PREGNANT,” and Momma is silent (216). She tells Mary because she’s “so grown” she doesn’t need her “momma no more.” Momma quotes a Bible verse and “then she storms out, so mad she could spit flames, with her record-breaking short visit” (216).