Five years after the main events in Savvy, narrator Samson describes his 13th birthday. He spends the morning holed up in his room, reading, eating chips, and trying not to think about the savvy that’s about to spring out of him. Around noon, his sister Mibs peeks in and asks how he’s doing. He grumbles at her but appreciates her concern.

The rest of the family is busily battening down the house—wrapping breakables, taping down loose items, digging an outdoor trench to hide in—preparing for whatever chaos might be caused by Samson’s new savvy. Mibs and Fish have returned home for the birthday party, which Poppa promises will be low-key, in deference to Samson’s shyness.

A car pulls up to the house, and three people get out. Listening from upstairs, Samson hears his mother greet her sister, Dinah, and Dinah’s two kids, Fedora and Ledger. Momma is surprised to see them—it’s clear she doesn’t want more people at the party—but Dinah insists it’s a good idea, especially for her kids, who soon will have savvies of their own. Because “Aunt Dinah’s savvy g[ives] her the ability to rob people of their free will whenever and however it suit[s] her” (347), Momma feels compelled to welcome her.