Izabel laid her head back and closed her eyes again. She wondered why no one in their town had organized some sort of march through the mall, a chance to yell, Whose streets? Our streets! in unison. It made her think that more people were like her than she’d thought—a little hopeless and a little tired.

That night everyone but Cami was on edge as bedtime approached, all waiting to see what would happen, what Cami might say in her sleep.

Cami bounced around the living room. “Daddy told me they used to name streets after trees!”

“That’s true,” Izabel said.

“Do you want to hear some?” Cami said. “Poplar, Sycamore, Spruce, Chestnut.”

“Wow,” Izabel said.

“Have you heard of all those trees before?”

“I have actually.”

“Have you seen them?”

“I don’t know.”

“We should draw pictures of trees!” Cami said.

“It’s getting late, honey.”

“Just one!”

“Okay,” Izabel said. “Everyone get your tablets. But then bed, Cami.”

“Yes!” Cami said.

They all sat down at the table with their tablets and styluses. “Let’s draw a sycamore,” Cami said. “Set a timer, Mommy.”

“Okay, two minutes?” Izabel said.

“Yes,” Cami said.

“Should I bring up a picture?” Kaito asked.

“I need to look at it,” Jana said.

Cami was already drawing.

Izabel drew a picture of a tree that was leaning over, with a face, a big open mouth, and it had vomited. The vomit was mid-air. She wrote sick-a-more above it.

The timer went off and they all stopped.

“Eww!” Cami said, looking at Izabel’s.

“Get it?” Izabel said. “Sick-a-more.”

Cami let out a big laugh. “I get it! Because it’s sick!” And she let out another big single laugh. It made everyone else laugh.

Then they all made a fuss over Cami’s drawing. Izabel wasn’t sure how big of a fuss to make over Jana’s picture, even though it seemed exceptional to her, the detailing of the branches in and out of clumps of leaves.

Cami told her twice: “You’re really good at drawing, Jana! You’re really good at drawing!”

“Okay, time for bed now,” Izabel said. And Cami didn’t argue this time. And they went to get ready.

When Cami was asleep, and Kaito had gone to bed, and Izabel had returned to the kitchen to unwind with an old episode of What Not to Wear, Jana came out of her room.

“Hi, Jana,” Izabel said. “You okay?”

“I want to sleep with Cami tonight,” Jana said.

“Sleep or stay up worrying?”

“I think I’d stay up either way.”

“You won’t wake her?”

Jana shook her head.

“Then I don’t see why not,” Izabel said.

Jana hugged her before she’d finished.

Izabel held her and said, “You have to figure out a way to get some sleep, at some point, even with everything that’s going on.”

Jana pulled back and said, “I will.”