We grab bags of popcorn and bottles of water and find four seats together. I wave to Karina and her family sitting on the other side of the room with Daria and her little brother.

“You can go sit with them, if you want,” Mama says in my ear.

I shrug. “No, that’s okay. I think I’ll just hang out with y’all.”

Sitting in the dark room, Dylan staring wide-eyed up at the screen, Mama and Daddy smiling and holding hands, I think about how different things are from a few months ago. When we lived in Cyprus Point, it was no big deal to go to a movie. I just used allowance money and went with one of my friends. Mama usually took Dylan and one of his friends to see something that was more for little kids. Daddy didn’t care much for movies. He’d rather watch football or baseball on the TV.

Now that I think about it, except for eating dinner together, we didn’t do a whole lot as a family. I had my friends and my Firefly troop. Mama was either working or busy with Dylan, and Daddy worked or watched sports.

These last few months since we lost our house and had to move have been hard. Really hard. So hard, Mama sometimes cried and she and Daddy got into fights. So hard, Dylan wet the bed and took to sucking his thumb again. So hard, sometimes I’ve hated my life and was ashamed of what people thought of me and my family.

But sitting here in the dark like this, laughing together, sharing popcorn in our hand-me-down clothes, it’s nice. It’s good. I’m not ashamed of who we are and where we live.

We feel like home.

52

The Dog Next Door

The dog in the kennel next door to Baby

is new.

She walks slowly in on a leash.

She is too big to carry.

She has long ears,

one blue eye and one brown eye.

Baby can’t help but notice that she has

a long tail with lots of long hair

that curls up at the end.

Black and brown with spots and

white paws just like Baby.

Baby pokes his nose through the wire

that separates them

and reads her story with his nose.

She is old.

She is sad.

She is confused.

Like his friend Ajax,

her joints hurt but

unlike Ajax

her heart hurts too.

The dog next door

circles once, twice,

three times and

curls up with a groan on the floor,

her side pressed against the wire.

Listen, Baby says, curling up as close as he can

to the dog next door.

Hands are kind here.

The food is good and

the water clean.

They will bring you a blanket.

And even though it smells too sweet

it is warm and

they mean well.

The dog next door

sighs a long, trembling sigh

and closes her eyes.