13. January 6, 2021
Summary
- Em asks Roddy to turn off the TV as they watch a mob storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
- Bonnie Rae, present in Em's study, comments on the riot and suggests a racial disparity in police response.
- Em internally reveals she finds the insurrection exciting and has changed significantly over the past nine years.
- Roddy struggles with arthritis and requests Em's help with his hands after turning off the TV.
- Em deceives Bonnie into thinking she needs help managing her contacts and correspondence to maintain a harmless appearance.
- Bonnie offers to help Em with a "core letter" for responding to holiday greetings, not knowing Em already has the list.
- Em pretends to need help, contemplating Rodney's arthritis and their assistant Bonnie's utility for a sinister but unspecified purpose.
- Em applies a yellow jelly-like lotion to Roddy's arthritic hands, which is revealed to be derived from a person named Peter Steinman.
- Em and Roddy discuss whether they should "scratch" Bonnie from a list, alluding to a dangerous pattern of selecting individuals closely associated with them.
- They continue this mysterious conversation, revealing details about Bonnie's life, her breakup, and issues with her mother and a harassing coworker.
- Em links Bonnie's personal problems to a potential escape narrative, as a setup for a plan that seems to involve taking advantage of her later.
- Em points out the benefits of targeting Bonnie, including that her employment is short-term and she might be inclined to leave town.
- They discuss the possibility of harvesting body fat from Bonnie, with implications for their own health issues, such as sciatica and arthritis relief.
- Em convinces Roddy to consider Bonnie as their next target by presenting a logical narrative to his doubts.
- Emily heads downstairs to continue her act of being computer illiterate, while Roddy stays to watch the news of the riot.