Summary

Chapter 5 returns to Arleen in her new apartment on Thirteenth Street. She spent time rearranging furniture left by previous tenants, repainting the walls, and cleaning the apartment, all in an effort to make it feel more like a home. The boys were settling into their new school and taking care of a pet cat a friend had given them. Simultaneously, Jori’s asthma was improving, though he relied on an extensive regimen of medication. The author provides some history of Arleen’s life. She had a total of five children with two different fathers, neither of whom were involved in their children’s life. After the second father, Larry, walked out the family, Arleen quit her job at a hotel out of despair, a decision she would later regret. The SSI checks she received in its place had not increased in amount in...