Then she sat in the kitchen. She chewed on the back of her wrist. She tapped her fingers for hours and hours. “Where does that moron think we’re going to go?”

She didn’t even tie Chicken up no more. All day he slept by the basement door. He pushed his nose into the bottom and whined.

“Well, he can think again. We’re not going nowhere.”

One night I heard Gloria crying in the bathroom. She was sniffing and hiccuping. I pushed open the door. It creaked. “Gloria?” I whispered.

She was squirting toothpaste on her brush. A blue blob went in the sink. “Get out, Maisy. Just get out.”

“Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.” That was what Mrs. Spooner always said.

“Okay? Okay? How did I grow something so dumb?” She brushed at her teeth. I could hear it scritching. She still talked. “How’s it going to be okay? Telly’s gone. I faced it. I have. There’s no way to turn it around. Ever since he left, I done all I could. But I lost, you know that? I lost the fight. Every single ounce of goodness in my life is gone.” She kept brushing hard. The white foamy bubbles turned bright pink and rolled down her chin. “And now there’s no way out.”

I got a hard pain in my middle. I went to my room and climbed in my closet. Dirty clothes were on the floor. I forgot to put them in the basket. Jenny the Head was there, too. She was hiding in the corner. I hugged her. Her hair smelled old like rainwater in the ditch. I curled up and closed my eyes. I thought about Rowan catching Jenny as she swam by. He washed her hair. He sewed her up a body and stuffed it with oatmeal. That was a nice day.

—

The next afternoon we walked to the library. Gloria told me to stay in a chair and not budge an inch. Then she went upstairs. She walked all around the shelves and she sat at a desk with a pile of heavy books. She opened one up and scritched her head.

Sun was coming in the big windows. The library was always bright and warm. I swung my feet back and forth. Mrs. Spooner was behind her desk. She stamped little cards. When she saw me she stood up and came over.

“I’ve missed having you here,” she said.

I nodded.

“Feeling better?”

I chewed on my fingernail.

“I just noticed your mom. Up in the reference section. Doing some serious research?”

I nodded. I hoped Mrs. Spooner didn’t get too close. Gloria said my chicken pox could pop out any minute.

“She doesn’t seem quite herself, Maisy. I hope everything’s okay?”

I pushed my hand under my leg. I nipped as hard as I could to stop me crying. My chin was shaking bad.