Summary

In Chapter 18, a friend recommended Elena for a job cleaning the house of a wealthy couple with a 12-year-old son named Lance. Lance was neurodivergent and found it difficult to get along with others. However, he adored Elena. His parents invited Elena to move her family into their guest house so she could become Lance's nanny. Elena learned from Mauro that Perla was ill. She felt guilty for being away from Colombia when Perla died and guilty for sending Talia to live there. Mauro told Elena he had felt her presence in the room when Perla died.

Chapter 19 is narrated in first person by Karina. She says that she is the “author of these pages” and questions the legitimacy of the “assigned status” (127) given to people by the U.S. government. She recalls having an anxiety attack her freshman year of high school...