I’m not sure if something’s happened. I wish I could read Sophie’s face, but she stays one step ahead of me, walking with her sight set firmly on the street ahead of us. She turns right on Avenue B, and I don’t even know if she’s fully aware of where she’s leading us. A part of me suspects she’s following her instinct, and that it is leading her closer to the bodega, closer to our old apartment, to a place that feels familiar and safe. As long as we keep moving in the general direction of Uncle Jorge’s, I choose not to say anything.

Just as we reach Tompkins Square Park, thunder rumbles overhead. Looking up at the sky, I see dark clouds closing in, and I speed up a little to match Sophie’s pace. The air is starting to feel heavy, the way it always does before a storm.

“We should probably just head straight up to Fourteenth and get on the subway, Sophie,” I say. “I think it’s gonna start raining soon.”

If she heard me, she doesn’t show it. She keeps walking, still not looking directly at me.

“Sophie, don’t you think—”

“Why can’t I go to Mexico?” she asks me, and we both freeze on the spot. Looking into her eyes, I see all the anger she’s been holding back since this morning.

I can’t find it in me to move my legs, so I just stand there, staring blankly at her. “Sophie, you… you know how hard it’s been for Ma and Pa to return to Mexico, don’t you?” I say, trying to choose my words carefully. “You know they’ve had to move from one place to another, and they haven’t even been able to find jobs yet.”

“So what? That doesn’t mean I can’t—”

“It does, Sophie. It means that, as much as they wish they could, they can’t take care of you right now. They can’t take care of either of us.”

“But they’re gonna find jobs—Pa told me the other day that it’s gonna happen soon.”

Letting my breath out through my mouth, I think back on the last few times we’ve talked to Ma and Pa, and their desperate attempts to reassure Sophie, to promise us that life will get better one day. While I try to find the right way to explain to Sophie that things aren’t as simple as that, I sneak a glance up at the dark clouds above.

All around us, people are starting to scatter. Some guys that were playing in the basketball court are walking away. Babysitters are putting babies back in their strollers, and passersby are speeding up. Meanwhile, Sophie and I remain still, standing in the middle of the park.