Caucasia

Birdie realizes Dot has called Sandy to let her know where Birdie is. Birdie tells her mother that she is not coming back. Staying with Dot, Birdie realizes how grounded Dot’s life is and that she doesn’t fixate on race. Dot’s friends from her spiritual center come from all different backgrounds. Dot believes in auras, not race, as what defines people’s color. When Birdie asks what color she is, Dot tells Birdie she is a “deep, dark red” (321).

Birdie searches for information about her father. She remembers that Ronnie Parkman, Ali’s father, used to be Deck’s best friend. She calls up Ali, hoping he will introduce her to Ronnie. When they meet, Birdie feels awkward around Ali:

The name Jesse had been a lie, but as I walked home that day, I wasn’t quite sure the girl Jesse had been such a lie. […] Maybe I had really become Jesse, and it was this girl, this Birdie Lee who haunted these streets, searching for ghosts, who was the lie (328).

She realizes she misses her New Hampshire life, and the feeling frightens her.

Sandy and Jim are at Dot’s house when Birdie returns. They tell her to come home, but Birdie refuses. As she tries to get away, her mother grabs her and wrestles her to the ground. A neighbor calls the police, but Birdie tells them it is just a misunderstanding. Dot promises to take care of Birdie until she comes around, and Sandy and Jim leave. As Birdie walks off, she realizes that she does not really know her mother, even though she is closer to her mother than anyone else.

Birdie goes to a diner with Ali and tells him her whole story. She ends by asking if she can meet Ronnie to see if he knows Deck’s whereabouts. Ali is reluctant to visit his father but decides to help Birdie. When they arrive at Ronnie’s house, Birdie realizes that Ali is uncomfortable because Ronnie is openly gay and lives with another man. Ronnie tells Birdie that he saw Deck in San Francisco in 1977, meaning that Deck only spent two years in Brazil. He gives Birdie Deck’s address in the Bay Area. Birdie cannot believe that Deck has been back in the country for four years and never tried to find her. Ronnie tells Birdie that one of Sandy’s activist friends received a 14-year prison sentence a few years back. The news renews Birdie’s belief that her mother was in real danger.

Birdie visits her grandmother Penelope to ask for help getting a plane ticket to San Francisco. Penelope wants to know where Sandy is, but Birdie says she will only tell her if her grandmother gives her the money. The ploy works, and fearing again for her mother’s safety, Birdie gives Penelope a fake address. 

On the plane, Birdie sits next to a man who speaks to her in Pakistani. He is disappointed when Birdie says she is not Pakistani or Indian. She finds the address Ronnie gave her, but no one is home. Through the window she sees piles of books and a typewriter. Seeing that the window is open, she climbs in to see if her father really lives there. The apartment is messy and sparsely decorated. Soon Deck arrives, and seeing Birdie shocks him. They stare at each other without speaking. Finally, speaking of Dot, he says: “I told her you’d show up sooner or later” (386). Deck doesn’t seem surprised or excited to see Birdie. They hug awkwardly, and Birdie asks where Cole is. He tells her that Cole lives in Berkeley and is going to school. When Birdie asks why Deck didn’t try to find her, he says that Sandy did a good job of hiding them. He tells her that by the time he got back to the US, her mother was no longer in danger, so he assumed she had wanted to disappear. Birdie now has another conflicting story about whether she and her mother needed to go into hiding. Deck speaks nonchalantly, unaware that the news might upset Birdie. Instead of listening to Birdie’s story, he tells her about his new book on race theory.

Deck drives Birdie to Cole’s house, but Cole’s roommates tell Birdie she isn’t home. They point to the café across the street where they say Cole is studying. Birdie sees Cole in the back of the café and notes that, except for being more developed, she looks the same as she did when she was 12 (401). Cole looks up but does not recognize Birdie right away. She only notices her when Birdie begins to walk toward her. They hug for a long time. Outside, Cole calls Sandy, and they agree the three of them will meet in the summer when school is over. Birdie decides to stay in California with Cole, knowing she will not stand out there, happy to be with her sister once again.