Summary

In Chapter 8, Mila describes herself and her friend Cat as being complete opposites. She describes a time when Cat stole a pair of rats from the school’s science lab. She planned for the two to train the rats to carry messages through the sewers of London, however, the rats got loose. Cat’s mom complained she heard rats chewing in the cupboards and her father told her mother she was crazy. Cat indicated the rats were the final straw that ended her parents’ marriage. At that time, Mila and Cat stopped spending as much time at Cat’s house and more time at Mila’s. In retrospect Mila believes that Cat had begun acting out because she didn’t want to go back to her sad lonely house.

In Chapter 9, Mila discusses her father’s career. He translates books from Portuguese into...