The White Girl: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Later that evening, Odette goes into town, lying to Sissy that she’s visiting Millie. She heads straight for the police station. Unbeknownst to her, Sissy follows. Both Bill Shea and Sergeant Lowe are at the police station and—after making her wait long enough to establish his dominance—Sergeant Lowe agrees to see her. When Odette enters his office, she notices a blackboard tallying the “known Aboriginal child[ren]” in the district. He’s reading Odette’s Welfare Board file, no doubt encountering the complaints the mining company made about her after she made a fuss over Daniel’s and Ruben’s deaths.

When Sergeant Lowe finally graces Odette with his attention, she requests for a permit to travel outside the district to visit a dying cousin who lives in the capital. She says she needs to take Sissy, too, so Sissy can pay her respects. Lowe refuses instantly and categorically. He says that because Sissy is an Aboriginal person, she is a ward of the state, and he is her guardian until she turns 18. Unlike his predecessor, Lowe insists, he will not neglect his responsibility for “native welfare.”

Lowe then demands to know where Lila is. Caught off guard, Odette lies, claiming that Lila died not long after Sissy’s birth. Shea’s apparent ignorance of this—and the fact that there is no death certificate in her file—reinforces Lowe’s poor opinion of his predecessor. Odette says it’s because Lila died in Gatlin. A furious Lowe demands that Shea get a copy from the Gatlin hospital as soon as possible.

Lowe turns his attention back to the files on his desk. When it’s clear that he’s ignoring her, Odette sees herself out. She finds a frightened Sissy in the street. Sissy worries that Odette was conspiring with the police to send her away. Odette reassures her.

Later that night, after Sissy is in bed, Odette is surprised when Bill Shea knocks on her door. He gives her the travel permit, something he still has the authority to do until his retirement at the end of the month. It’s clear he intends this as a peace offering, but it’s also clear that he really doesn’t—or can’t—see how he’s complicit in the horrors she and other Aboriginal people have suffered. Odette says that his willingness to look the other way is what allows Aaron, Joe, and others like them to behave with impunity. He protests that he can’t arrest Aaron for kidnapping Sissy without evidence. Odette reminds Bill that they used to be friends, before he decided to give his allegiance to White society. She accuses him of drinking to avoid facing the truth and dealing with his guilty conscience.

Bill leaves, reminding Odette that if she tries to take Sissy away with her, she’s likely to lose custody of her granddaughter to Lowe. She can’t act like “Sissy is a white girl.” Odette can’t get those words out of her head. They give her an audacious idea. She spends the night preparing a costume for Sissy and packing their things.