In chapter, ‘Tara of the Seas!,’ it is revealed that Balu and Tara were once married. This should strike the reader as odd as, upon meeting each other again after years, there is a very uncomfortable tension between the two - with Tara’s friend even implying that Balu may have been involved in a violent confrontation with Tara’s ex lover. Tara does, eventually, make a pass at Balu but is quickly shut down by Adelphia.

So what does this have to do with rings? Though there still may be some residual physical attraction between the two, it’s obvious that their hatred for each other trumps their attraction. And yet, unbeknownst to the casual reader, both Balu and Tara still carry around the marriage rings that they once wore. Balu wears it on a long necklace chain that can’t be seen beneath his collar, and Tara has the ring sewn into a little pocket in one of her bulletproof vests.

Though their tension and hatred is never resolved, they spend their brief time together wondering in silence if the other one still has their ring.

-E.

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