We Need to Talk About Kevin Chapter 15: January 13, 2001 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • It's the second Saturday of the month, which means it's time to visit Kevin! Errmm… do we have to?
  • Today, Eva does something different: she makes small talk with another mom in the waiting room.
  • The other mom, Loretta Greenleaf, quickly realizes that Eva is mom to the infamous Kevin Khatchadourian.
  • Loretta asks Eva if she ever figured out why Kevin killed "seven high school students and an English teacher […] and a cafeteria worker" (15.20).
  • Eva says maybe it's her fault.
  • Loretta tells Eva not to be saddled with all the guilt. "It's hard to be a momma" (15.44). And she squeezes Eva's hand.
  • That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to Eva.
  • Eva is called in to visit Kevin, who talks about how superior he is to all the other kids who have committed school shootings.
  • This is what amounts to prison small talk.
  • Eva is sick of it, so she decides to have some real talk: "Do you blame me?" (15.67), she asks.
  • Nope. Kevin doesn't want Eva to have any of the credit.
  • Eva asks Kevin to remember his childhood, and how he wore diapers until he was six years old.
  • "Do you remember? What you drove me to do?" (15.94), she asks.
  • Kevin does remember, whatever it is, and calls it the "most honest thing" (15.97) she ever did.
  • What could it be?