"I'm not sticking around," Joan says immediately. That's important to say, not for him, not even for herself. It's just a declaration of intent. She won't be broken by ease, and she won't hide her aims. She won't be broken.

But his question's a good one. She doesn't say the first thought that pops into her head, I'm gonna get the hell away from you. There's just no point in antagonizing him. She can tell he's not the kind of person to hit when he could do something worse, and she hasn't gotten to worse yet, but it's probably either fatal, or the kind of thing you wish was.

(If she was a good daughter, she'd say, I'd find out of mom's still alive, but she's not, so she doesn't.)

"And I dunno," she says, "but whatever it is, I'll be in charge of it."