Gram closes her eyes briefly. “Yes… yes, of course I meant Jacob’s mama. I… I barely recognized her. Her jaw was broken and her eyes swollen almost completely shut. I cried for her, but I cried for Jacob more. He was all alone with his papa. He said he wasn’t scared, but I knew he must be. I could see it in the way he flinched at every sound.”

“Yikes,” Olivia whispers. “Poor Jacob.”

I widen my eyes at her and put a finger across my lips, but Gram doesn’t seem to hear Olivia. She continues with her story, her gaze briefly meeting mine.

“My mama’s boss, Mark, came to my school soon after that day. He said he needed me to give Mama a message. He made me memorize it instead of writing it down.” Gram pinches the bridge of her nose briefly, like she does when her head hurts. “When I gave Mama the message from Mark, she cried. I didn’t know why then. I’m not sure I would have told her if I knew—”

A knock on the front door interrupts Gram. She looks up and blinks me into focus. “Answer the door, Lulu.”

I grit my teeth and stomp to the front door. Max is on the other side with a huge grin.

“Hey,” he says. “I found something.”

I try to shake off my impatience.

He looks past me and nods at Olivia. “ ’Sup?”

Olivia pulls us into a huddle in the middle of the entryway. “Her gram is telling us about Russia. She totally admitted she used to live there.”

I glance over my shoulder. The living room is around the corner. “We should get back in there. I want to see if she’ll keep talking.”

“I can wait here,” Max says.

“You might as well come in,” I say. “She’s going to ask who’s here and then probably try to feed you.”

Sure enough, Gram tries to stand when she sees Max. “Hello, dear. Come in. Are you hungry?”

Sorry, Max mouths to me as we follow Gram into the kitchen.

She’s still shaky, so I stay close. “I think you should sit down,” I say softly. “I can get Max something.”

Gram starts to argue but suddenly goes blank. She stares off into the distance before she looks back at me. “Where’s Jacob?” she asks in a little-girl voice. The one she uses when she tells me her stories.

Max’s eyebrows disappear into his hair, and Olivia’s eyes go wide.

“He’s not here,” I say, leading her to a kitchen chair. “Can you get her some water?” I ask Olivia. I sit next to Gram and keep hold of her hand.

Olivia hurries to the cabinet, whispering something to Max on her way back. I try to focus on Gram and not on what they might be thinking.