When she released our hug, I resisted the urge to tousle her hair like old times. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t care what the other people here say. This is what you all should be doing. Harry’s been inside all day since he got back from college. He should be getting sunshine. That’s what everyone forgets. You kids were out getting sun and fresh air every single day.”

She was making a reference to the Marley day. We were not the only kids in Cadence to be unsupervised during summertime, but we were the most famous. The rest of the town held airs of superiority over our families. Opinions on the rightness of our parents’ actions were shared freely and often. They were forever branded the Albany parents, code for negligent.

“It’s so good to see you,” I told her, using the voice that made me sound like an adult. The one I used at all the memorials. She didn’t attend them, so she didn’t know.

Harrison and Aidy came from the hallway. Harrison kissed Ms. Shin’s cheek. “Bye, Mom. Love you.”

“Be good,” she said to us as we left, patting my head two times more than she pat the others. On a whim, I flashed her my claws.

With a wide grin, she clawed back.

Tension wrapped taut around Nick, Aidy, Harrison, and me. One millisecond of attention toward it, and we would all snap in half. We invented the longest, most out-of-the-way route to the park, letting the need to avoid Mr. Jimenez take all of our energy, even though deep down we all knew we were putting an obscene amount of work into hiding from a man who had become so withdrawn since the Marley day that he sometimes got the mail in his underwear, seeming to forget he could be seen.

It was such sweet, tangible relief to finally arrive at Cadence Park. I basked in its plastic glory: The sun scorching the red slide, making it unusable. Two young kids running across the blue bridge. Ruby sitting on a swing, holding Marley’s box.

I felt another twinge of victory. Aidy was outnumbered. I had more allies. I tried not to let it make me too bold, but I couldn’t help but jog over to Ruby.

“Where are your bikes?” Ruby asked as we hugged.

“We couldn’t take them through the Marley way.”

“Ah. Bigs and Teeny aren’t coming,” she told me. I should’ve been upset, but without them, the balance stayed tipped in my favor. “Not yet,” she clarified. “They have these things called jobs.”

“Never heard of it.”

“I think it’s sort of like when I babysit my brothers. Except you get paid.”

Aidy walked up, Harrison and Nick right behind. “I was hoping they’d be off today. I wanted to ask if their aunt is hiring.”

Harrison touched her shoulder. “At her hotel?”