76 pages • 2 hours read
Tiffany D. JacksonAllegedly
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Ms. Cora makes Mary attend court with her because she wants Mary to understand what she is up against. Mary is scared they’ll take her back to “baby jail,” but Ms. Cora assures her they cannot do that. Ms. Cora and Michael Rabinovitch, the lead prosecutor, argue over the merits of reopening the case. Ms. Cora says in defense of Mary, “New evidence and testimony confirms findings from the original investigation. Further, Mary wasn’t allowed a fair trial, especially when her mother, a possible suspect had power of attorney and accepted a plea on behalf of her daughter to save herself” (283). They review evidence and both sides cite several experts. They review Mary’s mental state, and Ms. Cora is surprised that Mary is still being prescribed medication for possible bipolar disorder as well as ADHD. Neither condition has been substantiated and none “of the standardized approved evaluations proved [presence of mental illness] to be the case […] the doctors confirmed she was highly intelligent” (285). The prosecutor, who had seen this as a routine hearing, is unprepared and angered by the evidence brought forth. He points to Mary’s unwillingness to speak in the months after Alyssa’s murder as tantamount to guilt. Ms. Cora says Mary’s silence had been due to the trauma of witnessing:
a murder, committed by her own mother—her sole provider and protector—and was then instructed to cover up the evidence, making her an unwilling and unknowing accomplice. At nine years old, she did not have the capacity to make her own decisions, especially in a frantic situation, involving a death. She was, as described in her testimony, doing what she was told by an authoritative figure (285).
Ms. Cora tells the court they will need to exhume Alyssa’s body. The prosecutor is incensed; Mary is panicked, horrified by the idea of seeing “Alyssa like that! Skin rotting, a pile of bones covered in dirt […] [her] stomach heaves just thinking about it” (286). Before court is dismissed, the judge asks to see all evaluations performed on Mary over the past six years. There are only seven, and they are presumed to be forged.
Mary sees Ms. Claire for a last-minute pep talk before the SAT and learns she will not be at the test. Mary is beginning to wonder, without Ted, if there is any reason to take the test. Ms. Claire tells her, “don’ even think about anything else but dis test! Dis ‘ere is all that matter. Take yuh further than any ras-clat boi” (290). Ms. Claire acknowledges Mary’s belly and reminds her she has “more important tings to worry about than some boi” (290). Mary returns home to find Ms. Carmen and Ms. Leah, Ms. Stein’s superior at ACS, waiting for her. Ms. Stein is nervous and defensive. It is revealed that a boy in foster care, under Ms. Stein’s supervision, had died. Implying incompetence, Ms. Leah looks at Mary and asks Ms. Stein if she’s “sure she can handle this” (292). Ms. Stein’s assurance that everything is under control makes Mary uneasy.
Chapter 14 Summary
That night, Mary packs her bag with her test essentials and sets her alarm. After dinner, she enters her room to find Kelly talking to New Girl. Kelly, holding Mary’s SAT book in her hands, tells Mary she’s a “dumb ass” and cannot afford college and that no one hires people with records anyway. New Girl tells Mary that Kelly had been in their room when she got there, but a subtle friendliness between Kelly and New Girl makes Mary uneasy. Mary confirms her knife is still in its hiding spot. The next morning, Mary’s alarm fails to sound, but Mary makes it to the SAT just in time. At check-in, Mary discovers what Kelly had been doing in her room: her wallet and ID are missing. The woman who is checking-in students tells Mary that without an ID she cannot take the exam. The woman makes no attempt to be helpful, and Mary suspects the woman recognizes her name from the news. Mary returns to the home.
Mary acknowledges for the reader the connection between her miserable existence and the supposed lie she had told for Momma. Before going to her room, Mary learns that New Girl’s mom has died. Mary feels terrible and is not sure what to say to New Girl. Mary thinks she owes New Girl for being the only one to believe her and for introducing her to Ms. Cora; Mary decides to say some words of comfort. Mary expects New Girl to be sad, but when New Girl turns to meet Mary’s gaze, “She stands real slow, turning with the biggest grin spread across her face. Satan’s grin. ‘I did it. I finally did it. I finally killed her!’” (301). Mary is shocked but tries to keep her feelings hidden. At dinner, New Girl quietly giggles, and Mary is scared for her life. After their emergency session with Ms. Veronica, Mary runs to her room and moves her knife and money, knowing full-well the “new” New Girl could take her things or kill her in the night without anyone finding out. When they go to bed, New Girl tells Mary she knows Mary is afraid of her: “New Girl is pacing fast […] bare feet slapping against the wood floor, chewing her nails […]she is playing with something in her hand […] it’s a ring with three big diamonds” (303). New Girl claims she will pay for her lawyer with money from the diamond ring and she will be free. New Girl justifies killing her mother because she had insisted that New Girl do chores, attend church, and take ballet and music lessons. New Girl tells Mary, “You of all people should understand. You’re just like me! And now we’ll both be free! Together! Just you and me!” (304). Mary tells her they are nothing alike.
The next morning, Mary accompanies Ms. Cora to a psychiatrist’s office. Ms. Cora and Mary are equally surprised when Dr. Cross tells Mary it is nice to see her again. Mary has no recollection of ever seeing this doctor, and Ms. Cora is suspicious of a set-up. Dr. Cross has no records of their earlier sessions, claiming they were lost in a flood. In either case, Ms. Cora is angry and the issue remains unsettled.
Chapter 15 Summary
At six months, it’s hard for Mary to hide her pregnancy. She worries people from the nursing home will point to Ted as her boyfriend. At work, Mary takes a newspaper from a patient and begins reading. While circling new vocabulary, she comes across an article: “Lifetime Set to Film the Mary Addison Story.” The article mentions Mary is out of jail and on house arrest; that her case has been set for appeal, but “[p]roducers say the outcome of the case will have no bearing on the adaptation” (310). Mary realizes this newspaper is everywhere. Panicked, she collects all the papers she can find and throws them in the garbage, but “she can’t bury all the papers in the world, just like [she] can’t bury her past […] she’ll never be able to hide from the mistake that wasn’t [hers] alone” (311).
Mary is hysterical and bites her tongue so hard she bleeds. Out of the corner of her eye, Mary spots Ted’s sneakers and a bag of his clothing buried under a pile of sheets and blankets. She realizes Ted is no longer staying with Leticia but sleeping in the janitor’s closet at the hospital. Mary buries her face in Ted’s clothing and “his smell devours [her] pain” (311). She finds him mopping and approaches him. He yells at her to stop for fear she’ll slip and fall on her stomach, but she ignores him. Ted grabs Mary to steady her, and she hugs him and does not let go. She then tells Ted about Kelly stealing her wallet.
The narrative is interrupted by a transcript from a recent interview with Momma. In the interview, the detective inquires as to the kinds of toys Mary had. Although six years have passed, Momma is able to tell the detective details about the night of Alyssa’s death. They pay special attention to the cross Momma had worn around her neck at all times; it had belonged to Momma’s mother. When asked if she still wears the cross, Momma claims to have lost it. The detective tells Momma, “The jewel we found in Alyssa’s throat matches the description of a jewel on your cross. The one people said they saw you wear all the time” (317). Momma dismisses the claim as ridiculous, and when the detective tells Momma that Mary had claimed her mother had been wearing the cross that night, a furious Momma tells the detective that Mary is not her biological daughter. Momma will not say who gave Mary to her, only that Mary is not hers. Mary does not act surprised when Ms. Cora tells her what Momma has said, nor does Mary discredit the possibility.
Ms. Cora says their case is solid but wishes they “had a smoking gun.” Mary doesn’t tell anyone, but she acknowledges to herself that she has the smoking gun; she just doesn’t want to “be the one to give it up” (320).
When Mary gets home, Ms. Stein tells her she’ll be moving upstate to another halfway house, one for underage, expectant mothers. Winters is on board and will be driving her up on Saturday. Mary realizes she’ll no longer be able to see Ted and tries to think of ways around moving. New Girl overhears Mary leave Ted a message. New Girl, after eavesdropping on Mary, asks Mary if she is going to leave her. She is “as cold as snow” and scares Mary. New Girl glares at Mary’s stomach, and Mary realizes she’s been living with “the most dangerous person in the house and [she] didn’t even know it” (324). Mary says, “Sarah, you’re scaring me,” and New Girl responds, “good” (324).
The next day at work, Mary and Ted plot their escape. That night, Mary provokes a fight with Tara that allows her to “inadvertently” enter Ms. Stein’s office where she can steal a copy of the front-door key. Mary goes to bed early, which allows her to pack in privacy. Mary attempts to stay awake until three o’clock in the morning when she is to meet Ted at the train station, but she falls asleep. When she awakens at 2:00 a.m., she finds New Girl is not in her bed. Mary fears for her safety but must meet Ted. As she leaves her room, she reaches for her knife and discovers it is missing. Mary heads for the door, and right before she opens it, from out of the dark New Girl steps out of Kelly’s room and asks her where she is going. New Girl tells Mary she cannot leave her. As Mary turns, she sees Kelly with her knife pointed at her stomach. Mary backs up and New Girl pushes her down the stairs.
Chapters 13-15 Analysis
Through themes of corruption and fairness, Jackson suggests that officials behaving negligently—not doing their jobs or carrying out court orders—are responsible for the ambiguity still surrounding the case and for the sympathy Mary is able to garner. It is both ambiguity and sympathy—not innocence—that open the door to an appeal. If Mary’s conviction is overturned, she will be viewed as innocent in the eyes of the law, and for a time, in those of the reader.
Some information becomes known, both at the hearing and later in the psychologist’s office, that reinforces Ms. Cora’s belief that there are forces working against Mary, trying to hold onto her conviction. When Judge Conklin tells Ms. Cora that she would like to see all evaluations from the past six years, Ms. Cora tells her everything has been submitted, but only seven reports had ever been generated. The judge is suspicious, and the prosecutor is on notice: “You mean you’re waiting for them to magically make up reports that should have been filed years ago?” (287). The judge then learns that Mary has never been informed she has a state-appointed psychiatrist and a state-appointed attorney. An adult would know their rights, but a nine-year-old child has little understanding of their basic rights. Mary has been robbed of them, and in a way, her future: This awards her sympathy; however, the sympathy she deserves as a result of negligence and corruption is different from what she’d deserve if she’d been innocent. The sympathies become entangled and create an ambiguity that could aid in the freeing of an alleged murder.
Jackson explores opposing perspectives through Mary and New Girl. The two have different perspectives on their parents and their role as children. New Girl claims to know of Momma’s transgressions against Mary, but New Girl defends Momma and says Momma can’t help the way she is. New Girl is angry at her parents because she believes that their expectations for her to take ballet and music lessons and complete chores are too high. To New Girl, this constitutes abuse. Jackson shows the absurdity of New Girl’s assertions by juxtaposing them to Mary’s experience. The reader and Mary both know what she has experienced at the hands of Momma. New Girl is more dangerous and deluded than anyone had originally believed, and she thinks nothing of taking a life. As different as Mary and New Girl appear, the common factor is a charge of murder.
The author uses shoes, specifically Ted’s shoes, to tell his story. When Ted and Mary first meet, she “stare[s] back down at his sneakers, at the dried mud crusting around the bottom” (67). The author infers that Ted’s shoes are old because Ted has been living in a group home and, in theory, has similar resources to Mary. After Mary has learned of Ted’s betrayal, and he follows her to the DMV to beg her forgiveness, Mary notices “his shoes look brand new and fancy. Not the shoes of a poor group home kid like me” (240). Mary comments, “Those are new,” to which he replies, “They were a gift” (240). His having the means to buy new shoes foreshadows the coming revelation: He’s been living and “working” with Leticia, as well as sleeping with her, and countless others, to avoid being on the street. Mary looks “down at his shoes again. Bright green expensive laces” (242) and ponders how long he’s been pretending to be broke. Mary continues not speaking to Ted, but Jackson tells his story through his shoes. When Mary is at work and sees a story about herself in the newspaper, she hysterically gathers the papers and shoves them down a chute in the janitor’s closet. She is in a panic until she looks down and “notices his sneakers on the floor in the corner […] the new ones, under a black duffel bag full of his clothes” (311), indicating Ted is living out of a duffel bag and not at Leticia’s. Mary buries her face in his belongings, signaling the reconciliation to come.
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