Something Like Home

Laura rolls her eyes at the sandwiches. Silvia asks why she doesn’t want to learn about her parents’ homeland. Laura tells her that her parents would have taught her if they thought their heritage was important; they are all Americans anyway.

Silvia explains that Mom had trauma from Puerto Rico but shouldn’t take it out on Laura. Mom dated girls, which upset Laura’s grandparents. Because of her sexual orientation, Mom’s parents disowned her. Mom left Puerto Rico and never looked back.

Laura knew her Mom was bisexual, but she never realized her grandparents kicked out their own child. With this information, she has no desire to learn more about Puerto Rico or visit such terrible family members. Laura believes she won’t be there in December for the proposed Puerto Rico holiday trip anyway.

Benson isn’t at school the next day. Laura misses him. She asks Mrs. Elsa, the librarian, who explains Benson is likely in the hospital again.

Laura walks Sparrow. She’s distracted by Benson’s health condition. Sparrow usually keeps her focused, making her forget her problems, but today she can’t shake her worry. She realizes the local hospital is close, so she could go see Benson.

Although she considers asking Silvia for permission to go to the hospital, Laura doubts she would agree. Silvia is sleeping after a long work shift, and she would be grumpy if woken up.

Laura gives Sparrow a treat with peanut butter so he will be quiet. She successfully sneaks out of the house.

After a bus ride, Laura arrives at the hospital. Since she tells the staff she’s visiting her aunt, they let her in. She hopes Benson is here, especially if she’s punished later.

Since the children’s floor has patients’ names on the doors, Laura finds Benson easily. When she arrives, he smiles so widely that she has no doubts about her decision—even if she might be grounded later.

After his joyful greeting, Benson becomes quiet. He hoped not to tell Laura about his medical condition. She tells him he doesn’t have to share, but she won’t leave him or make fun of him if he opens up.

Benson explains that he has sickle cell disease. His blood cells look different and don’t carry enough oxygen. He has symptoms like pain, tiredness, and joint swelling. Benson will feel better for a while, but he always has to return to the hospital for help with this chronic illness.

Laura feels sympathy for him. She’s upset that his friends left him too because he was different and dealing with an exhausting medical condition.

Benson asks Laura why she lives with her aunt and if she’s open to sharing now. Laura pauses, thinking about the difficulty of pretending she’s okay, of ignoring teachers and others making comments about “parents” like everyone has them. She decides to be vulnerable and talk.

Laura tells Benson everything. She defends her parents as good people with a substance abuse disorder. She explains dealing with social services, living with her aunt, and missing her parents every day.

Benson listens attentively to Laura’s story. When Laura is done venting, Benson supports her and agrees her life sounds hard. He is empathetic and accepting, rather than judgmental. Laura is grateful for his friendship.

They talk about other topics, like school and their dogs. Benson thinks the hardest part of being sick is missing his pug, Zelda.

That night, Laura researches sickle cell disease. It started in places with lots of malaria, a disease from mosquitoes. Many African countries have malaria and sickle cell disease, and many Africans were brought to the US as enslaved people. Benson’s ancestors had the gene, which passed down to him.

After she’s home from school, Laura plays with Sparrow. He licks her all over, and she suddenly remembers Benson missed his dog. Laura assumes taking Sparrow to the hospital would uplift Benson and be great practice as a therapy dog.

Laura finds a huge hiking backpack in a closet. She wonders if Silvia used to be into hiking. She uses the backpack to fit Sparrow inside.

To prepare, Laura takes Sparrow outside to relieve himself. They then walk to the dog park so he can get his energy out.

Afterward, she puts Sparrow in the backpack and rides the bus to the hospital. Janet gave Laura a free bus pass card.

While hidden Sparrow sleeps in the backpack on the bus, Laura considers sending her parents another letter. She wishes she could confirm the letters are reaching her parents.

Laura wonders if Mom would want her to be friends with Silvia. She feels a wall between her and Silvia though.

In the past, Laura’s mother almost overcame her substance abuse disorder. She stopped taking pills, which made her healthier and more present with Laura. They baked cinnamon rolls and went for walks together.

Dad, however, kept abusing drugs. Mom relapsed, and their routine of sleeping in, not paying bills, and barely opening the food truck started again. Laura knows substance abuse is the reason for her parents almost dying, the 911 call, and their family’s forced separation.

At the hospital, Laura meets Benson’s mom. She goes out for coffee while the friends talk. When Laura unzips her backpack and Sparrow hops out, Benson’s shock, laughter, and joy are fulfilling.

Laura can’t help but smile at Benson and Sparrow. She read on Google that cuddling dogs helps people feel better, and she witnesses the proof now. Benson believes this is the best day ever.

Laura is happy and thinks maybe her parents will let her keep Sparrow, but this isn’t a forever plan. She can’t work with Sparrow as a therapy dog forever. Benson and Sparrow are “tools” to reach her parents: “Everyone and everything are temporary. The only permanent home is my mom and dad” (123-24).

Benson calls Laura his best friend, which makes her feel worse. Before she can stop herself, she corrects him; they are friends until she goes home. At her words, Benson stops petting Sparrow. Laura said something wrong, but she is being honest. He corrects his words to agree they are “temporary best friends” (125).

Laura wants to correct her mistake, but a nurse walks in and yells. Laura rushes to get Sparrow on his leash and runs full speed out of the room. She crashes into Silvia in her doctor’s coat, who chastises her to stop.

Laura drafts a letter (at least in her mind) but doesn’t send it. She writes about her whole life being a mess. She misses her parents and doesn’t understand why they’re not back yet or why she’s with Silvia, who doesn’t care about her. She asks if they ever worried they would be separated or if Laura would be okay. Laura worries constantly and feels alone.

Laura’s real letter makes excuses for her parents being too busy to write. She hopes they’re enjoying rehab, since it looks fun but also hard, like school. Laura shares her reading intervention progress. She asks them to keep working hard and not to be mad at her for getting them sent away. Laura also pleads with them to write back.

After the incident at the hospital, Silvia scolds Laura and is angry and disappointed in Laura for being irresponsible. She grounds Laura.

Now, Laura is only allowed to read and walk Sparrow for 10 minutes at a time. Silvia confiscates Laura’s laptop; she can only use the technology at school. Due to Silvia’s strictness, Laura thinks she’s clueless about parenting and showing concern.

Laura is bored while grounded, so she explores the house. She checks the closet with the hiking and camping gear again, hoping to find bird watching equipment. She discovers some binoculars and takes them.

Laura leaves to walk Sparrow and test the fancy binoculars.

Laura enjoys walking her dog and birdwatching with the binoculars. Birdwatching is a pleasant hobby for her. She needs some solace during this time, since she thinks everyone in her life—except Sparrow—is mad at her.

Soon after, Silvia apologizes to Laura. They have a long talk. Silvia overreacted and didn’t realize Laura was helping her only new friend. Laura’s actions could have gotten Silvia fired, but Silvia’s boss was nice. Laura is amazed that an adult apologizes to her.

Laura apologizes too. She didn’t mean to get Silvia in trouble and thought she would never get caught. She promises not to sneak Sparrow places again but then describes her plan to turn him into a therapy dog. Laura wants Silvia to approve, though she doubts she will like the idea.

To Laura’s surprise, Silvia loves her idea, agreeing to support Sparrow’s training. She wants Laura and Sparrow to succeed and be able to visit her parents.

Although Laura claims she doesn’t want or need help, Silvia pulls out her iPad to find more information on therapy dogs. She turns the iPad to Laura, but she asks Silvia to read it out loud. Silvia realizes that Laura struggles with reading, so they sit close together while reading the therapy dog materials on different websites.

When Silvia gets a work call, Laura still thinks it will be easy to reach her goal. Sparrow has to pass a Canine Good Citizen Test and a Therapy Skill Test.