What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

Eddie visits Ava and Joyce after seeing Johnny Mack. Mack plans to sell his house and move to Detroit with his son following the recent burglary. Joyce and Eddie agree the house would be perfect for the Sewing Circus. After some reflection, Ava tells them she will buy the house with the salon money. The family celebrates the plan.

Eddie and Ava convince Joyce to keep a gun in the house in case someone tries burglarizing them. Joyce admits that she would do anything to protect Imani.

Ava, Joyce, and Eddie clean out Mack’s house after completing the purchase. Mack’s old pictures make Ava think about Idlewild’s history and how the town has changed. She and Joyce consider how to revitalize the community.

Eddie watches Imani while Ava and Joyce take a walk. When they return, the family discusses their plans for Mack’s house. Then, the mailman arrives with a letter from the State Deputy Commissioner for Youth Programs denying Joyce’s grant application for the Sewing Circus due to Miss Gerry’s complaints about the group.

Joyce spends the day on the phone with state officials regarding the grant. Realizing that Gerry will do anything to stop her work, Joyce decides to ask the community and state to refute Gerry’s “version of the events in question” (171). Afterward, Ava visits Eddie to update him on Joyce’s plan.

Eddie and Joyce leave town to appeal for a change to their grant. Ava takes care of Imani by herself for the first time. She thinks about other babies like Imani and thanks God for bringing Imani into her family’s life.

Ava wakes in the middle of the night to the sound of a car outside. Through the window she sees Tyrone, Frank, and Frank’s girlfriend in the yard. They’re all high. Frank has sex with his girlfriend against the car before demanding that she have sex with Tyrone, too. When Frank tires of watching them, he smashes Joyce’s picture window. Ava loads the gun, desperate to defend Imani. When Tyrone and Frank hear the gun, they flee. Ava realizes she would’ve killed Frank given the chance.

Eddie tells Ava he wants to kill Frank when he hears what happened. Ava doesn’t think breaking a window is grounds for murder. Eddie argues that if someone doesn’t stop him, he’ll become more violent. Ava isn’t sure but feels protected by Eddie.

Joyce and Ava discuss what happened at the house. Eddie reiterates his offer to kill Frank, but Ava still isn’t sure. She agrees that Frank might never change but doesn’t want to abandon the power of love.

Ava and her family file a police report. The sheriff says there’s little he can do because Frank and Tyrone only broke a window.

Ava visits Eddie at Mack’s house. Eddie takes a break from his work, and they share tea. Ava realizes that she no longer feels uncomfortable sitting in silence with Eddie. Then, Eddie shares his plans to teach a karate class for young boys at the house once they finish turning it into a community center.

Ava and Joyce go to the sheriff’s office for a meeting with Frank, Tyrone, and their families. Only Gerry and Tyrone attend. Ava is shocked when Gerry offers an alternate version of events for the night in question. She accuses Ava of luring Frank and Tyrone to her house under the guise of throwing a party. When the boys arrived, Ava supposedly tried to seduce Tyrone. Ava reiterates her version of events. At the end of the meeting, the sisters tell the sheriff they want to file an aggravated mischief report.

The sisters discuss the meeting. They try to laugh about the absurdity of Gerry’s claims but agree that she isn’t going to leave them alone. Joyce guesses that Gerry’s behavior is about more than the Sewing Circus.

While Ava washes Eddie’s hair, the couple discusses the meeting with the sheriff. Eddie agrees that they’ll have to continue combatting Gerry.

Aretha calls to update the sisters on her new life at Interlochen. They’re so proud of her that they cheer. Aretha also tells Ava how much everyone loves her hair.

Ava and Joyce go to Gerry’s house to see if they can determine what she wants. Gerry isn’t home. Tyrone and Reverend Anderson open the door. Ava immediately realizes that the reverend is drunk and understands that his absence during weekly meetings is related to alcoholism. When the sisters mention the sheriff’s meeting, Reverend Anderson delivers a soliloquy about everything Gerry has done for him considering his sins. Then he collapses drunkenly, and the sisters leave.

Ava goes to Mack’s to help Eddie paint. Eddie has done so much work that the house is unrecognizable. Eddie interrupts Ava’s work to give her an extended kiss. Afterwards, he proposes.

Ava leaves Mack’s to get some air. She doesn’t know what to tell Eddie. She loves him but doesn’t want him to have to take care of her if she gets sicker. She regrets coming to Idlewild instead of going to California.

Mattie arrives at the house with Janice Randle, a social worker Joyce knows from Children’s Services. Janice informs Joyce that Mattie wants custody of Imani. Mattie learned through Gerry that foster parents get paid and doesn’t think Joyce and Ava deserve the money. Joyce gets upset, insisting that she’ll take Imani and disappear. Janice tells her that if she kidnaps Imani, she’ll never get her back. If she lets Mattie take her while they wait for a court date, the court will ultimately give Joyce custody. After Janice leaves, Joyce is beside herself. Ava offers to support her however she can.

Ava, Joyce, and Eddie stay up all night making plans for Imani’s future. Their lawyer agrees that the court will rule in their favor, but they must leave Imani with Mattie and Frank in the meantime. Ava and Eddie promise to sit outside Mattie’s house with Joyce until the hearing on Monday. If they hear Imani cry, they’ll go inside and intervene.

Ava dreams about having sex with Eddie. She wakes up convinced they’ve just been together.

When Ava gets night sweats, she starts panicking about her health. She can’t ignore the signs that the virus is progressing.

Janice, Mattie, and Sheriff Gates come to the house to collect Imani. Janice promises Joyce to help her with the hearing papers. After they leave, Ava helps Joyce start the court process to distract her.

Ava and Joyce spend the weekend parked outside Mattie’s house. Eddie checks in on them periodically. The court has scheduled their hearing for Monday. In the meantime, the sisters wait to hear Imani cry. On Sunday, Eddie and Ava take a walk, assuring Joyce they won’t go far. On the walk, Eddie tells Ava now is the time to discuss their future. Ava explains why she’s afraid of accepting his proposal. Eddie dismisses her concerns, insisting that nothing “will ever make [him] turn away from [her]” (219). Instead of watching her die, he plans to help her live.

Activity builds up outside Mattie’s house. When the sisters hear Imani screaming, they rush for the house. Frank tries to keep them out with a gun, and Ava insists that they leave. Joyce is afraid of abandoning Imani but listens to Ava. They get in the car and drive to Eddie’s for help.

When they return to the house with Eddie, the situation has worsened. Inside, they discover that Frank broke Imani’s legs. Joyce calls the police, and they send an ambulance. Frank and Mattie flee.

The family tries to figure out what happened while waiting for Imani at the hospital. When they got to the house, Joyce found Imani facedown and believed her dead. She ran for the phone, and Frank tried to stop her at gunpoint. Joyce didn’t back down. Mattie insisted that Frank forget Joyce and leave with her before they were arrested for drug possession and use.

The doctors inform the family that Imani’s surgery went well and that she will make a full recovery.

Ava and Eddie walk out to the dock. Ava reconsiders her past and present ideas about the Black community. When Eddie asks what she’s thinking about, she says it isn’t important. Eddie insists that it is important; he wants to make their situation right. He plans to go in search of Frank and Mattie and keep them in place until the police intervene.

Ava meets Joyce at the hospital. She wants Joyce to know Imani’s accident isn’t her fault, but instead she simply tells her that Imani will be okay.

That night, Ava receives a call from a member of Reverend and Mrs. Anderson’s former church in Chicago. She read about the Sewing Circus in the paper and wants to share some information about the Andersons with Joyce. Ava invites her over.

The former congregant, Susan Hughes, comes to visit. Susan explains how she heard about Joyce and her work in Idlewild. Ava invites her to share whatever information with her that she likes.

Susan explains that when the reverend was in Chicago, he sexually abused countless young boys in his youth ministry, including her son, Corey. Desperate to preserve her husband’s reputation, Gerry begged the church to cover the scandal and give Jonathan a new appointment in Idlewild. They agreed on the condition that Jonathan could no longer be involved with youth ministries. Susan also reveals that Tyrone’s mother, the Anderson’s daughter, had AIDS. Ava feels desperate to talk to Eddie.

Ava corners Gerry when she runs into her in town. She tells Gerry that she knows everything about her husband’s past. She waves an envelope containing Corey’s story, which proves her allegations. Gerry agrees to tell Ava everything and to leave town with her husband.

Ava and Eddie get married. They have a small service and celebration with family and friends. Their lives have been more peaceful since Gerry and Jonathan left town and Frank and Mattie were arrested. The family also has custody of Imani and has reopened the Sewing Circus at Mack’s old house.

After the ceremony, the wedding celebration begins. Ava dances wildly with her loved ones. She knows “it [will] all be all right” with Eddie by her side (244).