Chap­ter XXVI opens with the group arriv­ing at a motel, a tem­po­rary haven as they seek both phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al com­fort amidst the chaos of their lives. The small space of the boys’ room is trans­formed by Sam­son, who has inge­nious­ly fash­ioned a makeshift bed under a table using a motel bed­spread as a cov­er, cre­at­ing a sense of safe­ty in the midst of the uncer­tain­ty sur­round­ing them. Mean­while, the pro­tag­o­nist shares a bed with Lill, who mur­murs in her sleep, pro­vid­ing an almost hyp­not­ic rhythm to the night. As Lil­l’s mur­murs soft­ly fill the air, the pro­tag­o­nist is left to reflect on the unpre­dictabil­i­ty of life, with Lill offer­ing an unspo­ken reminder that even the most dif­fi­cult sit­u­a­tions can bring about some form of good.

The pro­tag­o­nist strug­gles to find rest, as her mind races with thoughts of past loss­es. The loss of Grand­ma Dol­lop, in par­tic­u­lar, weighs heav­i­ly on her heart as she recalls the chaot­ic funer­al that fol­lowed her pass­ing. Fam­i­ly mem­bers, includ­ing Aunt Dinah, Uncle Autry, and Grandma’s noto­ri­ous­ly mis­chie­vous sis­ter, Jubilee, added to the unpre­dictable nature of the event, with Jubilee caus­ing such trou­ble that her moth­er had to hide all valu­ables dur­ing the wake. Despite the dis­or­der, the funer­al trans­formed into a sur­re­al cel­e­bra­tion of life, as nature itself seemed to respond to the sor­row, with vibrant col­ors and scents appear­ing at odd moments, almost as if the world itself was acknowl­edg­ing the emo­tion­al weight of the event. This reflec­tion stirs the protagonist’s emo­tions, mak­ing her real­ize how life can feel both fleet­ing and chaot­ic, yet still filled with moments that are strange­ly beau­ti­ful.

As mem­o­ries con­tin­ue to flood her mind, the pro­tag­o­nist begins to ques­tion the true moti­va­tions behind her deci­sion to run away. She won­ders whether it was pure­ly an act dri­ven by the desire to be with Pop­pa or whether it was also a way to escape the unavoid­able changes of her own life. In the qui­et of the night, she con­tem­plates the deep­er rea­sons for her flight, and she real­izes that per­haps she was run­ning not only from her father’s absence but also from the com­plex­i­ties and chal­lenges of grow­ing up. This real­iza­tion unset­tles her as she comes to terms with the fact that her escape might not have been as sim­ple as it seemed, and that the act of run­ning away was as much about escap­ing the fears of ado­les­cence as it was about seek­ing com­fort in a famil­iar, lost rela­tion­ship.

The fol­low­ing morn­ing, as the group pre­pares to leave the motel, there is a sense of nor­mal­cy return­ing with the arrival of break­fast, which Will Junior and the boys bring with them. Their light­heart­ed chat­ter and play­ful inter­ac­tions bring a sense of warmth to the oth­er­wise tense morn­ing, offer­ing the first bit of relief after the emo­tion­al strain of the pre­vi­ous day. In the midst of the morn­ing chaos, Lill and Lester share a qui­et, ten­der moment, which speaks to the growth of their rela­tion­ship. The pro­tag­o­nist, observ­ing their inter­ac­tion, begins to real­ize how Lill’s sup­port seems to have a pos­i­tive effect on Lester, bring­ing out a side of him that was pre­vi­ous­ly hid­den beneath lay­ers of uncer­tain­ty and self-doubt. As she watch­es their exchange, the pro­tag­o­nist feels a deep sense of curios­i­ty and admi­ra­tion, real­iz­ing that Lil­l’s pres­ence in Lester’s life may be trans­for­ma­tive in ways that are not imme­di­ate­ly appar­ent.

The group boards the Heart­land Bible Sup­ply bus, and as the jour­ney con­tin­ues, the pro­tag­o­nist reflects on the grow­ing rela­tion­ship between Lill and Lester. Lill’s unwa­ver­ing sup­port for Lester seems to inspire a new sense of con­fi­dence in him, sug­gest­ing that her influ­ence may play a piv­otal role in his per­son­al growth. The pro­tag­o­nist sees how Lill’s kind­ness and belief in Lester may help him over­come his strug­gles, offer­ing him the encour­age­ment he needs to face the chal­lenges ahead. As the bus rolls toward Wymore, the pro­tag­o­nist notices the world out­side the win­dow, the land­scape slow­ly shift­ing with the change in sea­sons. Spring is blos­som­ing all around them, sym­bol­iz­ing new begin­nings and the poten­tial for growth. This sense of renew­al mir­rors the pro­tag­o­nist’s qui­et hope for Pop­pa’s recov­ery and the group’s jour­ney toward heal­ing, both phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al. The chap­ter ends with a hope­ful tone, as the pro­tag­o­nist clings to the pos­si­bil­i­ty that the jour­ney ahead might offer more than just a phys­i­cal destination—it might bring the emo­tion­al clar­i­ty and peace the group has been des­per­ate­ly seek­ing. The road ahead is uncer­tain, but it holds the poten­tial for rec­on­cil­i­a­tion, per­son­al growth, and a future shaped by hope and resilience.