Love Medicine: The World’s Greatest Fisherman Part 2 Summary & Analysis

 Weeks later, Albertine Johnson opens a letter from her mother, Zelda. Albertine’s Aunt June has passed away, Zelda writes, but they knew that Albertine wouldn’t have been able to get away from her studies, so they didn’t tell her sooner. Albertine is away from home, attending nursing school in Fargo. June’s mother had been the sister of Albertine’s grandmother, Marie, and June’s father was a “no-good Morrissey” who left the reservation long ago. June was raised by Albertine’s great-uncle Eli, and then June married Gordie, her cousin and brother for all intents and purposes. Marie had been so angry when her son, Gordie, married June, she didn’t let either of them in her house for over a year.

June had been a terrible mother, and even Eli, who was always “crazy about his little girl,” admitted it. Despite this, however, Albertine thinks June was the best aunt. June always had gum in her purse, and she talked to Albertine like an adult, not a kid. June and Gordie’s marriage was always rocky, and she frequently ran off. She worked odd jobs, and even studied to be a beautician, but June never made anything work for very long. She even once showed up to a job drunk and was promptly fired. Over time, June “broke, little by little.” Albertine knows all about the kind of cowboys in towns like Williston, near where June’s body had been found. Men like that think Native American women like June are “nothing but an easy night.”

Albertine is furious with Zelda for not telling her sooner about June’s death. Albertine thinks that her mother should have joined the Sacred Heart Convent like she wanted to in the first place, but Zelda had married Swede Johnson, a white man, and had Albertine instead. Swede joined the army not long after marrying Zelda and went AWOL during boot camp; no one has seen him since. Even though Albertine doesn’t particularly want to see her mother, she decides to go home.

Zelda lives on the very edge of the reservation with her new husband, but the land Albertine grew up on belongs to her grandparents, Marie and Nector, and it was allotted to them back “when the government decided to turn Indians into farmers.” The government’s policy for land allotment was ridiculous, Albertine thinks, and much of it has since been sold to white people. The main house, where all of Nector and Marie’s children were raised, is now maintained by Albertine’s Aunt Aurelia, her mother’s sister.

Arriving at the main house, Albertine enters the kitchen and finds Aurelia and Zelda busy cooking. They welcome Albertine warmly without stopping their work, and Zelda hands her a jar of pickles, telling her to dice them. Zelda asks Albertine if she has met any “marriageable boys” in Fargo, and Albertine says she hasn’t. Albertine knows that by marriageable, her mother means “Catholic.”

Zelda stops working. She asks Albertine if she plans on being “a career girl.” Why not? Albertine asks her mother, pointing out that Zelda has always worked. Suddenly, a red Firebird pulls up outside. It is June’s son, King; his wife, Lynette; and their son King, Jr. Both Marie and Nector are also crammed into the car’s tiny backseat, along with several cases of beer. “There’s that white girl,” Zelda says. Aurelia reminds her sister that Zelda was once married to a Swedish man. Zelda admits that this is true, but she learned her lesson.

As everyone files out of King’s car, Albertine marvels at how old her grandfather, Nector, looks.  Albertine watches Lynette climb out of the car with her diaper bag and thinks about June. June had always told Albertine things she probably shouldn’t have when Albertine was a child, like how Uncle Gordie had often hit her with the “flat of his hand.” Gordie “hit me but good,” June had said.

Outside the house, Nector looks around. He says that the place looks familiar, and Marie laughs. It is his house, she says. Each time he comes to the house now, it is like his first time. The land had been allotted to Nector’s mother, Rushes Bear, when Nector was just a child, and his brother, Eli, still lives on the opposite end of the allotment, but Nector remembers none of this. Rushes Bear had sent Nector to the government school, but she had hidden Eli from them. Now, Eli’s mind is still in top shape, but Nector’s mind has checked out. 

In his younger years, Nector had been a big part of tribal government. He had schools built, and even a factory, and he was responsible for saving their reservation land from a policy known as “termination.” Nector even went to Washington once to meet with the government there, but that man is long gone now. As Albertine watches her grandfather discover his childhood home again for the first time, she thinks about King, Jr., who is happy because he doesn’t yet have a memory, while Grandpa Nector is happy because he has lost his memory.

Inside the house, Marie takes a ham from a can and, gently patting it, places it carefully in the oven. Zelda and Aurelia smile; they can remember when they had to trade for meat or slaughter their own. Zelda asks Marie if being in the kitchen with everyone reminds her of when they were younger. Marie comments that the kids were never really any trouble, except for the time they all tried to hang June in a tree out back. They had all been playing “cowboys and Indians” and had strung June from the tree when Zelda came running into the house to tell Marie.

Aurelia claims they never would have really hanged June, but Zelda doesn’t seem so sure. Marie remembers that June wasn’t scared in the least, and she had made sure everyone knew it. Outside, King revs the Firebird’s engine. Zelda remarks that the car has a tape deck, which costs extra. King is expecting to go pick up Eli, but both Zelda and Aurelia know Eli won’t ride in the car. Confused, Albertine asks why. June’s death has been deemed of natural causes, so her insurance money paid out, and King bought the car. Eli isn’t happy about it, Zelda says, and won’t ride in the car because it reminds him of June. King revs the engine again and peels out of the driveway.

Hours later, Zelda wonders where King and Eli are. They are probably out joyriding, she says, remarking again on Lynette. “That white girl,” Zelda claims, “won’t keep King long.” Aurelia looks to her sister, exasperated. Who cares if Lynette is white, Aurelia says. After all, Albertine’s father, Swede, was white, too. “My girl’s an Indian,” Zelda says. Aurelia nods, agreeing completely.

When King finally comes back, it is nearly dark. Lynette gets out of the car, her eyes “watery and red.” She adjusts her blouse, which is a “dark violet bruised color,” and goes in the house to check on King, Jr. Moments later, Gordie Kashpaw pulls in the driveway in his old truck with Eli next to him. Gordie is obviously drunk, and he circles the old Chevy twice around the driveway before he parks. Eli gets out and goes in the house. Next to Eli, Nector looks even older and “paler,” and he doesn’t recognize Eli as his brother.

June’s gravestone has just recently been erected, and Zelda, Aurelia, and Marie want to go see it before it gets too dark. As the women leave, Marie stops and tells Albertine to hang the laundry and keep an eye on things. There is plenty of food if anyone wants to eat, she says, but Albertine is not to let anyone touch the pies they have baked for the following day. “They can eat!” Marie yells to Albertine again on her way out. “But save them pies!”