Hush

Toswiah believes her father has begun imagining Raymond Taylor as his own son; or rather, he is unable to ignore the fact that one of his daughters could have been in Raymond’s place. While this realization deepens Toswiah’s love for Jonathan, Cameron begins to feel disgust over his decision to uproot the family.

The night the family’s house is shot, Toswiah finds her father looking at a picture of himself with the other police officers in his precinct; he puts it down and leaves the room, stating that he doesn’t feel safe anymore. Toswiah looks at the picture, noticing the stark contrast of her father against a sea of blue and white. Later that night, federal agents arrive at the Greens’ house.

There is a full moon when Toswiah and her family leave Denver; she imagines the moon saying its own goodbye, as the federal agents drive them away. Earlier that evening, Lulu, who lives five doors down, had snuck into Toswiah’s room and hugged her. Toswiah had told Lulu that she would be leaving soon, though neither knew exactly when; every evening since, they have hugged each other and cried, thankful for every extra day. Toswiah and Lulu share a birthday, and the former remembers their mothers saying that they had turned to each other in their incubators as newborns, both born a month early.

When the federal agents arrived, Cameron had been in her room, writing a letter to Joseph. Months later, she tells Toswiah about the difficulty of leaving a man she loved; Toswiah counters with her own difficulty leaving behind their grandmother, their cat Matt Cat (who was sent to live with Grandma), and Lulu.

As the agents drive the family away from Denver, Cameron asks where they are headed, but the men refuse to reveal the location, as it is unsafe for the family to know. The family is told that their old house will be sold, and the money will be funneled through multiple systems until it becomes a check for “Evan Thomas.” The family’s new surname will be “Thomas,” but they will have to pick their own first names. Toswiah reflects on how her grandmother and great-grandmother were both named “Toswiah.”

During the drive, Cameron cries, Shirley sits with her hands in her lap, Jonathon stares blankly out the window, and Toswiah closes her eyes and imagines herself back home, waving goodbye to the agents while holding her father’s hand.

For three months between leaving their home and arriving at their apartment in a new state, the Greens stay at a safe house in Colorado—an old, empty motel that is falling apart. They don’t see anyone except for the agents, who do the family’s shopping and escort Jonathon on the days he is called to testify. The family is given no information about where they are.

Cameron’s frustration deepens, leading her to cry and scream often; Toswiah, on the other hand, cries silently at night. The former tells Toswiah that she feels like she has been switched at birth and separated from her real parents; she imagines her real family living happily somewhere in Colorado, with Toswiah’s real sister whom they took home from the hospital by accident. Toswiah tries to console Cameron, but the latter reiterates that though they will eventually leave the motel, their new circumstances will be their new life. Still, Toswiah recalls her and Lulu’s promise to attend the same college. She believes Grandma will see to her departure to college, as she promised to bring a coconut cake with a single candle “marking the first day of the rest of (her) life” (67).

Three weeks after their stay at the safe house, the Greens are asked to pick their new names. The girls squabble, frustrated with their situation. Cameron asserts that Toswiah doesn’t know what it’s like, to lose her life as a popular cheerleader with more friends than her introverted sister. Toswiah retorts that she doesn’t let herself think about the past, because it hurts too much to do so.

Cameron initially wants to keep her name, but Toswiah reminds her that she can’t. The former then chooses the name “Anna,” because it is a palindrome: “Easy to say. Easy to remember. Turn it completely around and it’s the same thing” (72). Toswiah chooses “Evie.” Cameron calls Toswiah’s choice “stupid”—but the latter simply responds, “It’s mine.”