Trumpet

The narrator introduces 87-year-old Edith Moore, Joss’s elderly mother who lives in her own cottage in a retirement community. She does not believe in wasting anything, and it is difficult for her to grasp that hot water is always available whenever she needs it.

When Edith last saw Joss (whom she’d always known as Josephine), he showed up in a suit and brought a curry dish Edith did not enjoy. Joss had sent his mother a check every week for years—but for the last four months (due to his death), Edith has not heard from her child. Edith worries about what might have happened. She often sits in the afternoon, as old memories return: To her, “Old memories are like old relatives” (219).

Edith reminisces about her husband, John Moore, a handsome Black man. She keeps a photograph of him on display, and it surprises some people to learn she married a Black man, whom she misses. She reflects on Joss and death.

Colman, who wakes with a hangover, showers and heads to the bungalow in Edith’s retirement center. He knocks on the door. Though Edith does not come to the door, Colman realizes all of the elderly people in other bungalows have come out to look at him. The warden, who supervises the complex, arrives and asks if she can help. Colman says wants to see Mrs Moore. The warden replies that Mrs Moore goes out to buy her groceries daily and will be home soon. She tells Colman where he might find her among the shops. Colman explains he has no idea what she looks like.

Edith walks back from the market. To her surprise, she sees the other tenants outside; the warden tells her she has a visitor. This delights Edith, in part because it gives the others something to gossip about for the first time in ages. She invites Colman to her house and asks who he is. Colman explains that he knew her daughter Josephine. Edith replies that any friend of Josephine’s is a friend of hers and immediately prepares tea and a ham sandwich for Colman. Colman feels miserable about having to share Joss’s death with Edith.

Sophie describes herself as someone who buys lots of designer clothes. She explains that shopping prevents her from becoming depressed. She wonders if Millie bought all the shirts that Joss wore, or if he ever got measured by a tailor.

The only thing Sophie loves more than shopping is her job. She loves finding gossip that can be turned into a big story. She knows Colman is meeting Edith and wonders how the visit is going; she fears Colman might lose his resolve or say too much about the book. Sophie leaves a voice message for Colman, who does not respond. She runs a bubble bath and orders a gin and tonic from room service. By the time she’s prepared for bed, she still hasn’t heard from Colman.

Millie describes her past daily routine of wrapping bandages around Joss’s chest to flatten his breasts. Joss always felt more confident once he was completely dressed. Millie finds herself keeping some of the bandages. At one point after Joss’s death, she kept them under her pillow. She keeps other mementos as well.

Colman spends the day at Edith’s cottage before leaving. Edith had given him a photograph of Josephine at seven, smiling with missing front teeth. Colman feels weighed down by grief.

Back at the hotel, Colman tries to keep his return a secret from Sophie. He doesn’t listen to her voice message and, when she calls again, he doesn’t answer. He feels like her hostage, a coward.

Sophie has contacted an elementary classmate of Josephine’s named May Hart. She explains to May that Josephine has died. For several nights, May dreams of 11-year-old Josephine and remembers how much Josephine meant to her.

Sophie visits and encourages May to reminisce. May says Josephine was feminine and pretty. Sophie shows May photographs of Joss and explains that Joss had been “masquerading” and had become a world-famous jazz musician. May realizes she is still in love with Josephine and has missed her. She remembers the two of them practicing kissing when they were 11, so they would be good at kissing when the time came for dating. Watching Sophie leave, May realizes how self-serving the reporter is and worries she might have furthered her cause.

The narrator asks readers to examine the photograph of Josephine at age seven, holding the hand of her mother Edith. They’re comfortable together, and Josephine has a big smile.

Colman drinks more whiskey in his hotel room to work up the courage to confront Sophie. He looks at Edith’s photograph of his father as a young girl and decides he doesn’t want it to end up in a “trashy” book. Finally, he goes next door to tell Sophie the book deal is off.

The narrator describes Edith finally learning Joss has died from Colman. Edith stands outside, looking at the stars and moon. She considers this may be the last time she’ll be able to see this celestial show, since she is growing older. She goes through her usual evening routine, but all she can think about is her child.

Colman and Sophie sit in the hotel bar at 1am and argue about whether or not the book should go forward. Each accuses the other of immorality. Colman says he will not allow the book to diminish his father’s memory. Sophie argues that the book will explain and enhance the memory of Joss, and that they cannot hurt a man who is dead.

There is an interlude in the chapter in which Colman dreams he is saving a deaf girl who looks like him from the flooded basement of a large, wealthy house. He wakes to find himself naked in bed with Sophie, though he has no memory of what happened. He carries his clothing into the hallway, but cannot find his room key. Getting dressed, Colman goes to the reception desk to ask for another key.

The narrator asks the reader what happens when a ghost writer and the supposed author of a book disagree and go their separate ways. The narrator points out that many ghost writers feel they are the true experts on a book’s subject. The ghost writer often falls in love with the subject and cannot agree with the author about what is true.

Sophie wakes to discover Colman is gone. He left a note on the dresser saying he cannot continue the project. Sophie vows she will not let him go.

Sophie claims Joss was not as concerned about his music as he was dressing up as a man, which aroused him and gave him control over both women and men. She continues, saying Joss practiced his ability to masquerade as a man until he could move away from where he grew up and assume his alternate identity. She says people look down on “perverts,” but love to read about them. Sophie proclaims that everyone is a bit perverse on the inside, including her and her sister Sarah (who was the favored child in her family).

Sophie writes an excerpt meant to be the opening of the book, as if written by Colman. She believes this opening will appeal to Colman and convince him to return.

Millie decides to do whatever she must to prevent Colman from writing the book. The first reporting of Joss’s death devastated her, and she is grateful that the furor has ebbed: “But now, the newspaper articles have moved on like crows in search of other carrion and I have become yesterday’s news” (267).

Millie writes a letter to Colman saying that, if he writes the book, she will never see him again. She also writes to Sophie, saying that she will sue to prevent publication of the book. She reveals that she has received contact from a group of women jazz musicians who want to call themselves The Joss Moody Memorial Band.

Colman rides a bus to Torr, where his mother is. He calls the village butcher shop and asks the butcher to tell Millie that he is coming to see her, stressing that he is coming alone. Afterward, he looks out at the bay where he and his father fished together many times. Colman finally opens his father’s letter.

This chapter comprises Joss’s letter to Colman. Joss tells the story of his own father, John, who came to England as a young boy at the beginning of the 20th Century. John went to live with an aristocratic family, who made him a servant. His first impression of England was that it was a place of ghosts because fog concealed everything; people looked uncertain about where they were going.

John grew up beloved because of his articulate speech and singing voice. At 18, he apprenticed himself to a painter. Joss describes the way the British family changed his father’s name, saying that everybody changes as they go through life. He’s preserved his memories and put his legacy in Colman’s hands, giving him authority over his life now that he has gone. Finally, he remarks that the turn of the century is a time of rebirth.

Millie walks toward the harbor to meet Colman’s bus, and sees him in the distance. He looks just like his father, walking toward her. A bird dips close to the water, and then takes off while making a noise like a jazz singer.