Broom returns to New Orleans in the winter of 2011, six years after Katrina. This is her second attempt to start a life there. After leaving in 2008, she returns to the same Harlem apartment that she left when she went to Burundi. In between these two stints in New Orleans, Broom fell in love with a man “with whom I built dreams of marriage” (378). The relationship ended suddenly, and Broom experiences grief. She takes a job in New York City as an executive director of a non-profit running a health clinic in the mountains of Burundi. Broom decides to return to New Orleans to be a full-time writer. She visits Byron, Troy, Karen, and Herman in Vacaville, CA on her way. She then visits Darryl and his four sons in Southern California. He runs a construction company and his youngest daughter is named Sarai Monique. She then visits Michael in San Antonio. He drives with Broom to New Orleans.

They arrive at Amelia’s house in Saint Rose, where Ivory Mae lives with Elaine. The neighborhood has changed since Katrina, and there are many newcomers. Broom and Ivory Mae go through old documents, photographs, and memories.