SHELTER WOMEN

Early in Ivy's quest to fend for herself, she is found crying in the park by a seemingly kind-hearted homeless woman named Karen in Issue #0196. Karen takes Ivy to the shelter where she stays the night and gets her some hot rice. The other women at the shelter fawn over her, and two of them named Diane and Annie comment on her unusual features. Ivy ends up panicking when they won't stop touching her . . . which leads to her actually flinging one of them across the room. The women immediately withdraw from her despite her crying, leading to a demand by Miss C--the authority figure--that someone needs to take care of the baby. Theresa volunteers. When she brings Ivy back to the shelter one other time, one of them recognizes her as "the devil baby," which upsets her.