The Bean Trees Chapter 4 Summary

Tug Fork Water

  • The narration switches over to Lou Ann Ruiz. We're taking bets on how long they'll take to cross paths.
  • Back in Lou Ann's world, it's been a few months since the day her husband walked out. Her baby is now a few weeks old. Turns out she had a boy, and named him Dwayne Ray. Hey, at least it's not after a slow-moving reptile.
  • For the past few weeks, Lou Ann's mother and grandmother have been staying with her to help take care of the baby. Now they are getting ready to leave.
  • As Granny Logan and Ivy Logan pack up for the journey back home to Kentucky (where Lou Ann was also "borned and raised"), Granny Logan tries to convince Lou Ann to come back with them.
  • Granny Logan gives Lou Ann a Coke bottle full of cloudy water, and tells her that the water has come from Tug Fork, the creek where Lou Ann was baptized as a child. Kind of weird, but we can see how that could press some nostalgia buttons.
  • As she gets ready, Granny Logan keeps up a running commentary of spite against Mexicans and Catholics. Thanks, Granny.
  • Soon, Lou Ann waves bye-bye as the staunch old matriarchs bus their way away.
  • After her mother and grandmother are gone, Lou Ann walks over to a roadside vegetable stand, where a man called Bobby Bingo sells vegetables out of the back of his truck. She buys some tomatoes, then heads back home to put Dwayne Ray down for his nap.
  • As she tidies up the house, Lou Ann puts the bottle of Tug Fork water into the bathroom cupboard.
  • Later, while she's nursing Dwayne Ray, she reminisces about her old Kentucky home.
  • While she sits nursing, Angel returns to collect a few things. Because Lou Ann didn't want to tell her mother and grandmother that she and Angel were separated, he agreed to move back in for the duration of their stay. How kind and generous he must be.
  • Angel finds the bottle of Tug Fork water in the bathroom, and pours it down the drain. Um, about that "kind and generous" thing…