Joelle at the CA biscuits-Bottom meeting (p. 710)
Something has taken the tight ratchet in Joelle’s belly and turned it three turns to the good. It’s the first time she’s felt sure she wants to keep straight no matter what it means facing. No matter if Don Gately takes Demerol or goes to jail or rejects her if she can’t show him the face. It’s the first time in a long time—tonight, 11/14—Joelle’s even considered possibly showing somebody the face.
Context
The veil arc's hinge, date-stamped by the text itself: the Mattapan speaker's biscuit-pan Bottom moves the face from unthinkable to "possibly," and the book marks the night — 11/14 — like a sobriety date. Note the grammar of the middle sentence: showing the face and staying straight have fused into one act of "facing." Everything in the late Joelle material (161, 166, 178-179) descends from this paragraph.