How to Make Friends with the Dark

Shayna and Tiger don’t talk much for a couple of days after the drinking incident. Tiger breaks the silence when she sees that Shayna is red eyed after texting Ray, but Shayna brushes it off, not wanting to add to Tiger’s problems.

During grief group counseling, Walrus has a surprise proposal: He asks the teens if they would like to spend a week together at the ranch after school closes. They would be working with the horses alongside their regular sessions, as a therapeutic exercise. Everyone is in except Lupe, who has a university orientation event at the same time.

It is the evening of the Memorial Days dance, and Mae-Lynn and Tiger watch the proceedings from outside. Tiger texts Cake, telling her she should go to music camp and that it will make Tiger happy. After some demurring, Cake finally agrees, telling Tiger she loves her.

Mae-Lynn confides in Tiger that she is attracted to both boys and girls, and she cries, saying her father will never know this about her. As they watch everyone else dance, Tiger reflects that what she and Mae-Lynn will remember most about high school is “how normal was stolen from [them]” (322).

Shayna agrees that Tiger can go to the ranch as soon as Tiger mentions it. Tiger once again brings up talking to Dustin, stating that she has only one parent, unlike Shayna. Shayna reveals that her mother is not speaking to her; Shayna’s mother thinks that Shayna taking care of Tiger is a betrayal. However, Shayna abruptly agrees to Tiger’s request to speak to Dustin, and she steps out for a walk. Tiger sees on Shayna’s laptop that she has been looking for jobs in other places.

Thaddeus greets the grief group at the ranch and shows them around. Tiger begins to feel excited at the thought of doing something normal, like going away to camp. She meets and befriends Opal, a horse that is recovering from a recent injury.

The group are to spend their days mucking, cleaning the stables, feeding the other animals, and taking riding lessons. Everyone is tired out on their first day, but Tiger is too jittery to fall asleep quickly. She walks down to the stables and sits with Opal, telling the horse about everything that has happened to her.

The group takes their first riding lesson. Tiger is allowed to ride Opal because of her connection with the horse, and though she is riding for the first time, it feels natural to her.

Shayna calls with the news that she will be picking up Tiger early; they are leaving on a vacation the next morning. Not wanting to leave, Tiger goes out on a ride and pushes Opal too hard. The horse throws her off, and a winded Tiger apologizes to Opal.

The others come running, concerned. They tell Tiger that hurting herself won’t do any good. Mae-Lynn is especially angry, as she knows Tiger was trying to kill herself. She can’t believe her friend would do that to her after all Mae-Lynn has already been through. Tiger apologizes tearfully, promising she won’t leave her.

Tiger leaves Shayna a voicemail, asking her to pack June’s ashes for the trip. She spends the evening with the others at the pool on the ranch, and she feels free and hopeful for the first time in years.

Shayna doesn’t come to pick up Tiger after all, so she hitches a ride home with the Parker brothers. To Tiger’s surprise, there is an unfamiliar car in the driveway, and the house is a mess and smells of cigarette smoke. Suddenly, Ray emerges from the bedroom and summons Shayna, who looks worn down and bruised, to greet Tiger. When Tiger tries to talk to Shayna, however, Ray yells at Tiger and shakes Shayna, calling her a drunk and asserting that she killed their baby. Tiger tries to pull Ray away, but he shoves her hard against the wall. Shayna urges Tiger to run, and Tiger flees the house.

Tiger calls 911 to report the domestic violence at home. She then walks aimlessly for a long time. Confused and exhausted, she eventually chances upon a party in the desert. Lupe, who is also there, spots Tiger and comes over. Tiger tells her about the fight, and Lupe confides that her girlfriend broke up with her. The girls drink together and spontaneously decide to go away somewhere. They head back to Tiger’s, which bears no trace of Ray or Shayna, and take the Jellymobile. Tiger drives aimlessly for a while, and just as she starts feeling drowsy, a jackrabbit appears in her path; she swerves to avoid it.

The truck crashes into a mailbox, and both the girls are injured. They sit, stunned, as residents of the lane come pouring out to help them. Tiger recognizes one of the voices as Walrus Jackson’s. The police, an ambulance, and reporters arrive shortly after.

The girls are taken into custody, and the authorities ask them questions. To Tiger’s shock, she discovers that Shayna is not listed as her legal guardian in the system. She asks the officers to follow up on her 911 call from earlier. Lupe is collected in the morning, but no one comes for Tiger; the police tell her the house was empty when the dispatch arrived.

A new case worker named Luisa comes to collect Tiger. She is in serious trouble for underage drinking, driving drunk and without a license, and damaging private property. Shayna is unreachable; she has also not been responding to recent calls about a home inspection for Tiger’s guardianship. Tiger throws up when she learns she is being taken to juvenile detention.

Tiger rides with four other girls. She is fingerprinted, photographed, questioned, and searched, before she is given a beige jumpsuit and taken to a room filled with bunks. She feels the “girl-bug” stir, telling Tiger, “You are nothing now” (361). One of the other girls named Wee-Wee explains the rules to Tiger. Tiger cries alone on her bunk, wondering how her life has gotten to this point.

Tiger shuffles mindlessly from one dictated activity to another. She contemplates how so many of the girls in here have done something wrong like her; she thinks that they probably have “broken-back stories” (365), too. After dinner, the girls watch TV, and Tiger’s accident is featured on the local news. She contemplates how she “went from regular kid to full-blown criminal in a little over a month” (366-67).

Two days later, Luisa takes Tiger to a hearing. The judge reprimands her for her reckless behavior, and Tiger thinks about her father. She is ordered to return to the juvenile facility for the time being.

Just as Tiger arrives back at the facility, a riot breaks out, and she is caught in the stampede and injured badly.

Karen picks Tiger up a few days later and takes her to a group home for juvenile girls. The girls here learn life skills, and they are allowed back into foster care if they complete their stay without infractions. Shayna is still unreachable, and Karen wants to start investigating other options, as Shayna doesn’t seem ready for guardianship.

At the home, a smiling woman greets Tiger and introduces herself as Teddy. She shows Tiger around and explains the schedule, and she asserts that Tiger will be starting with a clean slate at the home. She coaxes Tiger to eat something. She also encourages Tiger to think about what would have made her mother happy when making decisions henceforth.

Tiger gets used to the routine of chores and studies. One of the girls tell her that some girls get so attached to Teddy that they reoffend when they are released, hoping they will be sent back here. Tiger contemplates calling Cake or Thaddeus, but she doesn’t have phone privileges yet.

Thaddeus comes to visit and tells Tiger he is leaving for Phoenix. He has found a job there and is working to obtain custody of Jax. He will eventually find Leonard, too, and take him in. Thaddeus cries, but Tiger encourages him to stay strong and carry out his plan.

Teddy tells Tiger that Tiger will be leaving, and Tiger assumes she is headed to another group home. Teddy suggests that Tiger let go of her dress now, as it “ooze[s] pain.” Tiger tells her about her fight with June, and Teddy reassures her that she can honor her mother by remembering her in her heart, rather than by wearing the dress. Tiger decides to stop wearing it but takes it in a bag with her.

When Tiger heads outside, Shayna is waiting for her. She gives Tiger a big hug and reassures her that she didn’t just up and leave; she will be with Tiger for the long haul.

Shayna finally tells Tiger the truth about her past. She is an alcoholic and would go out every evening to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. While she has been sober for six months, Ray is not. When Dustin and Karen called Shayna about Tiger, she saw it as a chance to start fresh and live life with a purpose. She left Ray in Hawaii and tried to throw him off her scent by detouring through Utah, but he eventually tracked her down. The suggested vacation was an attempt to escape him, but Shayna ran out of time. She did, as Ray suggested, also have an abortion, but she doesn’t regret it. She is not ready to be a parent, especially with Ray. He was abusive, but after the 911 call, Shayna finally pressed charges; Ray won’t be bothering them again.

Shayna spent the past two weeks in Tucson, finding a house to rent near Dustin’s parents; they even lent her some money. She says she and Tiger need to move and make a fresh start. However, Shayna suggests they continue selling June’s jam and jellies, but online instead. The terms of Tiger’s release include regular drug tests, attending more grief counseling and teen AA sessions, and two weeks of community service alongside Lupe. While Shayna cannot replace a parent, she promises to do better by Tiger. Tiger feels overwhelmed but hopeful, and she decides to take the chance she is given.

Cake convinces Tiger to finally write June’s obituary. Cake drives Tiger and Mae-Lynn down to the newspaper office to submit it. Esme, an older woman who works there, commends Tiger’s writing, and she helps her edit the piece down to the word count she can afford.

Tiger and Lupe do community service, and as they work together, Tiger comes to really like Lupe. They promise to meet weekly for coffee when Lupe is at university, as it is not far from Tiger’s new home.

Dustin finally calls and speaks to Tiger. Their conversation is short, but Tiger asks if they can talk again and if he can tell her more about June. Dustin tearfully says he would love to do so. After the call, Tiger contemplates how Dustin has messed up and made mistakes, but he still matters to her and has a place in her life.

Cake, Thaddeus, and Mae-Lynn help Tiger and Shayna with the move. On their final day of packing, Tiger finds June’s cell phone underneath the couch. It contains a video June has recorded that details the truth about her past and Tiger’s father. In the video, June says that her parents died when she was 11, not when she was in college, as she had originally claimed. She was passed around among relatives for years, unwanted everywhere. June never wanted to lose Tiger, so she kept her close all her life.

In the middle of the video, Tiger experiences something miraculous: When she touches her mother’s face on the screen, the video glitches, and it feels like June has come alive for a moment. Tiger knows no one will believe her. Shayna finds Tiger as she is still watching the video. After it is done, Tiger sobs in her sister’s arms as Shayna tells her she loves her and promises to take care of her.

Tiger and Shayna both regularly attend grief group and AA sessions, respectively. Lupe accompanies Tiger to her sessions, and they are the youngest in the group. In the first session, the facilitator asks what each one would tell their loved one if they had one more chance. One of the women, whose mother passed away 64 years ago, says she would ask for directions on how to live the rest of her life without her mother. Tiger knows she will feel the same way forever.

Tiger and Shayna usually get dinner together after their sessions, and they are beginning to feel like a small but real family. Shayna works as a waitress, and Tiger hopes to someday earn enough money to afford riding lessons. Her new high school is larger than her last one, and she sometimes feels lost, wondering about the stories of all the children who go there. She feels like a different person than she was before June died, and she wishes she didn’t know as much as she knows now about life. However, she knows she has no choice but to go on.

In one session of grief group, the members discuss experiencing visits from their loved ones in their dreams. Tiger decides she will tell them about the cellphone one day; they will believe her.

The novel ends with the short obituary Tiger wrote for June. It is accompanied by a picture of June riding a horse as a little girl, and it ends with the words, “June was loved, now and forever” (412).