It is December. Coco and Frankie are back together, but rarely having sex. Frankie is stopped by the police on a seat belt violation, and his name comes up on an arrest warrant for a murder charge. He is quickly cleared, but Coco knows all too well about men swept into the system on crimes they didn’t commit. She is spooked, and considers moving back to the Bronx, where Frankie will not attract as much police attention, and her problems will not be as conspicuous.

Cesar writes Coco a searing letter, accusing her of duplicating the mistakes of his own mother by being a “ho” and having too many children by different men. She writes a letter back, in which she defends herself and indicts Cesar for his role in her troubles. But shealso goes to Planned Parenthood in search of a tubal ligation and birth control. Her requests for a tubal ligation are bureaucratically dismissed, and the Depo Provera shot she opts for makes her very ill. Between her constant battles with Frankie and Pearl’s medical care, she never makes it back to Planned Parenthood.