Olive's Ocean

Martha showers until the steam creates a strong fog. Her father and grandmother ask about the scratch, and Martha lies to them. In the hallway mirror, she examines the minor scratch. She pats the scratch and the other cheek, feeling like her thoughts are becoming orderly.

Under her bed in Godbee’s cottage, Martha stores Tate’s note, the jar of seawater, and Olive’s journal. Martha abandons her story about Olive and writes a poem that addresses the ocean, death, the kiss, and Tate. 

Martha feels like a jar filled with secrets because no one else knows about Olive, Tate’s note, or the drowning incident. Martha still thinks about the video and kiss, but Tate has replaced Jimmy in her mind. The next days are “formless.” Martha stays near Godbee’s cottage or goes on quick sightseeing trips with her family.

Martha and her family drive to the Knob—a rocky piece of land that sticks out into the bay—and Vince declares that he’s tired of Jimmy and his video camera. Martha asks about Tate, and Jimmy says Tate is quiet. At the Knob, Martha has a pretend conversation with Tate until her father appears. On the car ride back home, Martha imagines another conversation with Tate.

During the last day at Cape Cod, Martha feels melancholy. She gets a call from Tate, who wants to know when she’s leaving tomorrow. As Martha and her family will be gone by 10 am, Tate has time to carry out his plan.

Martha packs, and she puts the note, journal, and jar of water in her backpack. She remembers Godbee saying, “We all trail complications” (209), and Martha dreams that her family members and the Mannings get trapped in blocks of ice. She tries to free Godbee, but Godbee disappears and Martha wakes up.

By nine am, Tate is still missing. Martha sits in her room, feeling like she’s in a bubble. Vince breaks it by running down the stairs, Lucy breaks it with her cries, and Alice breaks it when she tries to get Martha to eat something.

Godbee enters Martha’s room. Martha says she had a scary dream about Godbee, but Martha doesn’t go into detail. Godbee shows Martha a card she wrote when she was six or seven. The card addresses Godbee. Martha says she likes Godbee’s cottage more than anything else. She likes climbing the rocks and pretending she’s on a sinking boat.

In the note, Martha calls herself a brave girl. Godbee calls Martha brave, but Godbee doesn’t believe she’s brave. Martha thinks Godbee is brave. She also thinks Godbee is loving, smart, safe, and pretty. Godbee doesn’t like public goodbyes, so she and Martha hug in Martha’s room.

Dennis wants to leave, but it’s not yet 10. By using the bathroom, Martha stalls. Her mother screams for her, and the family says goodbye to Godbee one last time before driving away. Martha feels like “nothing” and “everything” as pictures of the summer appear in her head. Then, her mother spots Tate, who’s in the middle of the road, waving his arms.

Martha wonders if she’s witnessing a miracle. Her parents are confused. They still think Jimmy is “the one.” Martha opens the van door, and Tate hands her a bag containing the video and a note. The note confirms that Tate knew what to do. Tate also says he’s the one who likes Martha, and he acknowledges that Jimmy might kill him.

At the busy airport, Martha realizes that no one is aware of what she’s thinking or feeling. She discovers that she wants to be herself and no one else.

Martha’s home in Wisconsin is the same, but Martha is different, so her perceptions of her home and world aren’t the same. The jar of ocean water survived the plane ride, and Martha notes how something seemingly unimportant—a baby food jar—can be of the utmost consequence.

Martha has a lot of things to do. She must decide what to do with the video, call Holly, tell her parents she wants to spend the winter holiday break with Godbee, and look up the address of Olive’s mother.

Martha tries calling Holly, but her line is busy. Her dad uses the phone and calls a lawyer from his former firm. Dennis will likely rejoin the firm, and he won’t miss being a writer. Dennis doesn’t feel like he was ever a writer. He says Martha can be the family writer or whatever she wants to be. Martha confirms she wants to be a writer.

After a quick breakfast, Martha goes to the house of Olive’s mother at 4525 Nelson Street. The house is a duplex, and there’s lots of trash on the curb outside. Martha isn’t sure what door she should knock on, and she doesn’t know how to address Olive’s mother.

An older man asks Martha if she’s lost. The man is John Waverly, and he’s the landlord. He lives downstairs, and Olive and her mother lived upstairs. John says there was no father, and Olive was always by herself, writing in her notebooks. John feels haunted by Olive. He says Olive’s mother probably moved to Oregon or Washington.

Olive’s mother’s move upsets Martha. She goes through the trash and finds a paintbrush. Dipping the paintbrush into the ocean water, she writes Olive’s name on the concrete steps. In a moment, the name vanishes. She continues to rewrite the name until the jar is empty. She puts the empty jar in the garbage. She thinks Olive is braver than her, and she says she’d be Olive’s friend if they met now. At her house, Martha feels safe. She announces, “I’m home.”