The Salt Eaters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Obie

Velma Henry is in the company of Minnie Ransom, a local healer and spinster, who is healing her in the Southwest Community Infirmary. Miz Minnie asks her if she really wants to be healed and is really not just saying she wants to, and Velma's unable to answer as the hospital staff watches on.
Those watching witness Velma's own godmother, Sophie Heywood, leaving the circle to their surprise, as she's one person who'd never miss out on the major events of Velma's life. Miz Minnie continues without her, urging Velma to let go but discovering that she wants to dwell in the past a bit longer. She allows this, realizing that her memories will only go so far and she'll release them nonetheless.

Velma remembers a meal she shared with her husband, James Lee Henry (aka Obie), where he tried to convince her that she could break her habit, but she can't remember particulars about what he said (despite recalling minute details about his appearance and the restaurant). She remembers why she loves him-- his hands-- but refuses to listen to his urgings.

Answer: Old Wife

Velma remembers a gathering in which her friends, neighbours, and colleagues record notes for an upcoming campaign-- plans, bylaws, jobs, charities-- and the community just doesn't want to listen to it. They decide, however, to formalize their group, calling themselves Women for Action, and lay down ground rules in order to put their priorities into action. They also criticize their guests, men responsible for running for council in town and others who rely on them to get ideas in motion. The ladies' request: recognition and reward. Their work has gone unnoticed far too long. While Velma sits in on the meeting and makes her point, she goes back further, remembering more from her past-- marches, fatigue, protest-- but it all comes back to the meeting...and dinner with Obie...and Miz Minnie performing her ritual at the hospital.

Miz Minnie gets in touch with her spirit guide, a person from her past nicknamed 'Old Wife', and realizes she may have met her match in the Henry girl, whose frequency is completely different from her own. The two of them recall her past and how she came into her healing ways while they stall for time. People begin to leave the infirmary, worried that they might not see anything happen, and Minnie decides to set off on her own to pull Velma free.

Answer: Knitting needles

A busload of woman containing Palma, Velma's sister, heads out to a meeting; they plan to organize themselves and present their main points in a tidy fashion in order to gain support. These are the Seven Sisters.
Fred Holt, the bus driver, contemplates his job, the economy, and his past in Memphis while the passengers wait to arrive at their destination (impatiently). They pass by the Infirmary and Fred feels that he should visit it for a check-up at some point. The rest of the area appears to be a wasteland of red mud.

While the bus rides on, Fred seems preoccupied with the words of his old friend, Porter, one of the only other coloured drivers in the group, who used to worry about all of the things in the world eating away at people; Porter was killed in a rest stop by a woman who no one could remember-- she stabbed him in the neck with a knitting needle.

Fred finds himself sickened by an earlier meal and throws up into a handkerchief, worrying some of the other passengers. They panic and cause a commotion until Fred informs them that they'll be at the end of the line in five minutes. Much of the rest of the ride is spent in silence with everyone remembering something important.

Answer: Nadeen

Obie considers how black peoples' movements have been postponed for too long. He remembers the Arts Academy (Spirithood Arts) and the contributions that he and Velma made in reshaping black culture, attempting to prevent it from persisting as it had for decades. When Velma left, they had to hire many people to replace her-- she was that integral to the job. Now she sits listlessly on the couch when he's not at home. Obie's brother, Bobby, stops by the house while he's in the basement so he heads upstairs. He doesn't yet know that Velma is at the Infirmary attempting to get healed by Miz Minnie; he wonders when she'll blow her top like people think she will.

Nadeen, who's at the Infirmary with her Buster, her boyfriend, in regards to her pregnancy, thinks she sees something drop off Velma's face and she watches as Miz Minnie tells Velma to make her choice. A sonic boom is heard, but not felt, and something realigns. Nadine feels a kinship with Velma at his moment and hopes that the healing will end soon; she's due to have her baby and Buster wants Minnie to be there-- it could be good luck. For the people in the circle, time passes by erratically as they fight to free Velma from her disease. Velma, hearing music in the distance, fights to keep her balance in her own mind.

Answer: The Avocado Pit

Meadows, who earlier left the healing for reasons he can no longer remember, decides to walk about town. A new citizen in Claybourne, he feels isolated in the town and almost longs for someone to join him. Doc Serge, meanwhile, talks with Buster about the understaffed committees and organizations in the area, although Buster's not sure how to go about fixing this problem. Buster tries to take down the information but finds that he's not that great a journalist. Then again, 'Doc' isn't a good doctor-- he's not even a doctor; he just runs the Infirmary and he used to run a casino. Doc Serge explains some fundamentals, mainly about laws, but then speaks about the new age and 'the last quarter' since they're all situated in the last quarter of the century and that's the time at which anything can happen. Doc sends Buster on his way and thinks about his disliking of 'new people' these days. They just have no drive.

The bus stops in Claybourne and the Seven Sisters disembark the vehicle. Palma is greeted by Marcus and worries about her sister, but everyone heads into The Avocado Pit for lunch. Palma is too worried and hops into a cab with Marcus to locate her missing sister. They pass by the Infirmary on the way and look out at the big oak tree on the property, a tree which houses spirits for those who care to see them, deeply rooted in the town's history and spread out like a connected community.

Answer: His masseur

Sophie, Velma's godmother, sits in Doc Serge's office throwing up into a wastebasket, unable to return to Velma's side. She wonders where things went so wrong and recalls some past moments, one specifically about Velma arriving at her house and another about her time in prison.

Fred Holt, the bus driver, heads across the yard of the Infirmary and watches as a carnival is set up nearby; it's that time of year. He thinks about other festivals held in Claybourne in the past and everyone attending looking forward to the future, writing their wishes on paper and burning them in the fire in the hope that they'll come true. He speaks to a local and thinks about his last conversation with Porter, about the black man being 'the invisible man', before heading back towards the Infirmary.

Obie heads to the massage parlor for a session with Ahira, a chummy Korean masseur who tries to initiate small-talk. Obie is too stressed, mainly because Velma is too tense. Ahira suggests salt, at least salt from his tears; what Obie needs is a good cry. Ahira explains that too much salt can kill a man, but too little salt is just as bad.

The music Fred Holt can hear from the streets drifts to the Infirmary where Miz Minnie continues to urge Velma out of her shell. Velma, in her mind, visits a memory of the marsh where, while sitting on a log, she was visited by the mud mothers.

Answer: Meadows

While Meadows walks through Claybourne, it's clear that some people are already getting into the spirit of the Mardi Gras Carnival, and they attempt to try and bring him along. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to proceed with this. He stumbles into the poorer part of town and comes face to face with a group of people he'd rather not interact with. When he drops Doc Serge's name, however, they accept his presence and invite him in.

Ruby and Jan speak to one another at the Avocado Pit and wonder where Velma's been. Considering Velma was supposed to meet them, they're worried that something might have finally broken her; she's been taking on too much...first all of the Women for Action issues and now nuclear power and the Transchemical Plant. When the drums start up in the park across town, the two of them decide to walk over to the festival. A group of students from the Brotherhood Academy sit across the restaurant while one of the men behind the counter, Campbell, watches on and ends his shift, speaking to Jan and Ruby on his way out. Ruby tells Jan that Velma spoke to her about suicide the previous night and both of them think the fumes from the chemical factory are going to her head.

Answer: Mai

Sophie, in Doc Serge's office, finally quells her sickness and comes to terms with what's happened to Velma. In the other room, Miz Minnie continues to try and free Velma from her woes and cure her of her sickness. Velma tries to leave her body to get outside but Minnie pulls her back in and tells her to make a choice.

At the Avocado Pit, the Seven Sisters continue their conversations until a low rumble, almost like an earthquake, calls for their attention. Chezia gives the last of her gifts, a pendant of a snake, to Mai as she will be creating a new Seven Sisters contingent.

Velma drifts loosely in and out of memories-- one is of her at home, sick, as a child; another is a walk home from church with Obie. During the latter of her memories a conversation is held about Obie's infidelities and both of their lack of trust for one another.

At the Avocado Pit, the patrons realize that the rumbling is a train, a sound which should be so familiar but was so forgotten. A Latin band starts playing music at the cafe and the Seven Sisters hope the festival isn't rained out.

Answer: Salt

The rain starts to fall while Jan and Ruby discuss Velma's inability to center herself, at least in terms of her personal life. The rainfall creates terror as lightning streaks the sky and the downpour refuses to let up. Everyone crowds around except for Nilda, one of the Seven Sisters, who sits unfazed near the edge of the awning, off in her own private world.

Velma's dreams become a hodgepodge of confusing images, though she understands what's happening. Miz Minnie prepares for the worst as Velma breaks free and runs through Claybourne, reaching the festival and finding Obie. Obie has two hidden guns and there are two pipebombs hidden nearby; she knows this isn't his way. It rains harder as she heads into a nearby building-- a concert is beginning. The crowd gets unruly and the police are called. Standing barefoot in the mud, Velma sees others-- Doc Serge, Miz Minnie, her son-- in the crowd before she remembers her parents and her father's snakebite, a wound that was remedied quickly with salt.

Velma is met by Barbara 'Sweetpea' Watson, a woman from Syracuse, who discusses local politics with her and the impossibility of change in Claybourne. Velma says she wants to grow and Sweetpea says that she's glad she moved on because walking into Claybourne is like walking into a time capsule.

As Miz Minnie changes the music in the stereo at the Infirmary, Velma realizes that Sweetpea is just another version of herself. She falls into another memory, this time of Palma, before Miz Minnie realizes that she will heal herself through dance. In the Infirmary, Velma rises from her seat and her body commences the healing while her mind is fully aware. The onlookers continue to watch while Fred Holt enters the room for the first time and views the ceremony in progress. Although he arrives for a check-up, he never actually receives one. By the time he's finished watching, he's asked to move along.

Answer: In her mouth

Velma realizes that she could have died. She could have died at birth, or she could have died when she was baptized, or she could have died at a motel, or in bed, or in the forest. Minnie gets a message: 'it's a pentagon at the lower-left bicuspid'. When Minnie hits this pressure point, the entire room feels the jolt. It nearly sends Nadeen into labour, while Velma realizes this is the moment at which she starts back towards life.

Fred Holt has his blood pressure taken but, almost on a whim, he has a moment of panic and flees from the Infirmary, heading back towards his bus in a realization. He won't be able to explain the feeling until many years later. Dr. Meadows hears the thunder with the group of people in the poorer part of town and they head to the bar. Over the years, he becomes converted; his mind thinks more and more about nuclear power; his efforts are dedicated to the community. Palma and Marcus arrive at the festival and take shelter, deciding to stay there together. A look passes between them both, a look that they can decode together for years to come.

Obie receives the message while at Ahira's. He heads to the infirmary as soon as he hears it and he knows Velma's there. Sophie watches on from the crowd as Miz Minnie pulls Velma out of her own thoughts. She feels as though this is only the beginning of Velma's trials, as if placing herself into the oven was just a drop in the water compared to what she always knew would come.

Miz Minnie drops her hands from Velma's shoulders while Velma looks past at the world, renewed around her. She rises from the stool as the session comes to an end.