Love Medicine: Crossing the Water Part 4 Summary & Analysis

Lipsha goes out to the Firebird. One headlight is pointing toward the sky, and there are already dents and nicks in the paint. He gets in and turns the key, driving “in a general homeward direction.” He opens the windows and feels the fresh breeze. He has a full tank of gas and nothing to do. Suddenly, a knocking sound comes from the back end of the car. Lipsha figures a tire iron is rolling around, so he continues to drive. The banging sounds pick up, and Lipsha pulls over. As the car stops, the knocking becomes panicked and violent.

Lipsha opens the trunk of the Firebird and Gerry Nanapush jumps out. He gets in the front seat, and Lipsha continues to drive. After a bit of silence, Gerry asks Lipsha to drive him to the Canadian border. He has a wife and daughter in Canada, Gerry says, and he would like to see them. Lipsha agrees and tells Gerry he is “home free,” but Gerry says he will never have a home again. Lipsha understands this is true; Gerry can never go anywhere he is known without constantly looking over his shoulder.

Gerry asks Lipsha to tell him about the reservation, and Lipsha tells him all about Lulu and her new friendship with Marie. He tells Gerry about how Lulu has gained a reputation for being an “old-time traditional” Native American and argued “Chippewa claims.” She even had her picture in a Washington newspaper, Lipsha says. He asks Gerry if he had known June, and Gerry admits he had, and that he was in love with her. They talk a bit about June, and then Lipsha asks Gerry if he really killed the state trooper.

Gerry tells Lipsha that no one really knows who killed the trooper, and Lipsha tells Gerry that he is running from the military police. Gerry isn’t surprised; he thought that Lipsha was running from something. Gerry asks if Lipsha has had his army physical yet, and Lipsha says he hasn’t. Gerry tells him not to worry. When Gerry enlisted, he was turned down because his heart is “slightly fucked.” Gerry tells Lipsha that Lipsha is a Nanapush. “We all have this odd thing with our hearts,” Gerry says.

Lipsha and Gerry arrive at the border and shake hands. Gerry walks off into the darkness, and Lipsha turns off the Firebird’s lights, driving in darkness, until he arrives at the bridge crossing the boundary river near the reservation. Lipsha parks the car and looks over the edge to the dark water below. He thinks of his ancestors who offered tobacco to the water, and then he thinks about June. He knows now what she had done for him in giving him to Marie. The son June claimed, King, has suffered in ways Lipsha hasn’t, and Lipsha is grateful for Marie. He reaches in his pocket, where Marie’s hankie still sits, and climbs back into June’s car. “So there is nothing to do but cross the water and bring her home,” Lipsha says.