I have never felt as bad for anyone as I did for him when we left him there. We got to go home to our little house, with each other. That was better than living in a place with swirly carpets where no one told you that you were turning sour from the inside out.

When we got to the car, my sister broke the ice. “If you’re too tired, I can drive,” she told my mom.

“Very funny,” said my mom. “So hilarious I forgot to laugh.” But then we all laughed a lot, and when we stopped, I felt even worse for my dad, because I didn’t think he was laughing back in the Chase Clinic.

It was totally dark out now and we were all hungry, so Mom took us to a Veggie-Go-Go drive-through, which is her idea of fast food, and we all got wraps and high-energy smoothies.

“This’ll clean out the old bank account,” said my mom. That should have made me feel embarrassed because no one in my family ever used to mention how much food cost before, but somehow it was okay, because she was spending the last of her money getting us healthy comfort food and that was really nice of her.

It was at a rest stop off the highway. There was desert all around us and the last clouds in the sky seemed to glow against the dark.

I saw Mom noticing that Kate ate her whole wrap and her green drink, but she didn’t say anything, which was probably smart. Kate’s not into doing the right thing, and if she does it, you should not make a big deal of it in case she stops.

“Ready?” Mom asked, when she got back in the car after taking our biodegradable wrappers and cups to the recycling bin.

I nodded. Even though I ate a lot, I still felt sort of empty.

“Do you guys have any questions? For me, I mean.”

“I do,” said Kate. “When are you going to divorce him?”

“Oh, Kate,” said my mom. “We’re not there yet.”

My sister put her hand on my mom’s arm. If I hadn’t been buckled into my seat in the back of the car, I probably would have fallen down from shock.

My mom looked from Kate to me. “I wish I’d known what your father was doing, how he was acting. I guess I should have known. But I didn’t.”

“You didn’t know?” I asked her.