Some secrets cannot be hidden...

When Sophie arrives from New York to meet with her grandmother, and Tante Atie, they are extremely overjoyed to see Sophie all grown up, who was last seen when she was a young girl being placed on the plane. Atie has many questions for Sophie about her stay, and living conditions with her mother, Martine in New York.

“We have always heard that it is grand there,” said Tante Atie.
“Is it really as grand as they say, New York?”
“It’s a place where you can lose yourself easily” (Danticat, 103).

When Sophie states that “It’s a place where you can lose yourself easily”, Perhaps she is referring to her own horrible experiences while living in New York, which leads her trip back to Haiti to visit her grandmother. Sophie lost her trust with her mother, by staying out late one night with Joseph. Therefore her mother, Martine runs “tests” on Sophie to see if her virginity has been taken. Sophie begins to loose herself as the quote suggest, when her mother ignores her, and goes out with Marc without her. The chapter reaches its climax when Sophie wounds herself with her mother’s pestle, which causes her to bleed. Why does Sophie commit this act? Perhaps her mother’s story about Marassas is making her feel guilty? The fact that Martine knows about Sophie‘s involvement with a man, “There are secrets you cannot keep”(Danticat, 85), states Martine, may also contribute to her guilty feeling. How will the relationship with Sophie and her mother be restored? Will her mother accept Sophie’s child?