Chapter Eight

Kate steals her mother's "wampum", a cherished family cultural artifact, and gives it to Steve to sell for food money. When Steve tries to sell the wampum, he is disturbed to find himself beset by comically unexplainable hallucinations and nightmares that cut deeply at Steve's many anxieties and insecurities. Steve wonders skeptically if the wampum has somehow cursed him or if he actually feels guilty about taking it from his family. Steve is seemingly more afraid of feeling guilty than he is of being cursed.